


The Protector

by syntheticcathedral, Thorinsmut



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Anal Play, Blackmail, Complete, Double Dildo, Escape, Family, Gender Exploration, Genderfluid Character, Kidnapping, Kissing, Multimedia Fic, Nonbinary Dwarves, Nwalin Week, Other, Pre-Quest, Racebending, Smut, Spelunking, Strap-Ons, Threats, Trans Character, Violence, family love, gender discussions, gender euphoria, magical objects, mutilation threats, post-moria, sex and/or gender changes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-11
Updated: 2015-06-20
Packaged: 2018-03-29 22:20:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3912730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syntheticcathedral/pseuds/syntheticcathedral, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thorinsmut/pseuds/Thorinsmut
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dwalin has been searching for decades for the one relic she believes will give her the strength she needs. <em>Ushmaru Khazâd</em>, the protector of the Dwarves.<br/><br/>Meanwhile Nori is sincerely regretting touching that overwhelmingly perfect set of knives he found while ruins-searching.</p><p> </p><p>  <span class="small">art by syntheticcathedral. writing by thorinsmut.</span></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ered Luin

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Ballad of Rekkr and Thrasir](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13472394) by [Thorinsmut](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thorinsmut/pseuds/Thorinsmut), [werpiper](https://archiveofourown.org/users/werpiper/pseuds/werpiper). 



> Hello all and welcome to my latest longfic!  
> Syntheticcathedral and I are very excited to bring this one to you. Hold on to your seats - adventure, smuts, assorted genderfuckery, and of course Nwalin, await!  
> <3,  
> TS

Nori passed out of range of Ered Luin's lights, and lit a little lamp to see by as he took to exploring less-used paths and cracks in the stone.

Nori did like Ered Luin. Of all the places he'd lived with Dori and Ori, Ered Luin was his favorite. He might be surface-born, but he was still a Dwarf in his soul. He loved the feel of stone above his head and stone beneath his boots. It was nice to live somewhere everything was sized right, too, and not ridiculously tall. Ori was getting a good education, and Dori had settled in sturdy as bedrock. She'd found her place, set up her tinker's shop and would not be moved.

Nori's siblings were here, in Ered Luin, and so he could try to be in Ered Luin too – even if it was not always easy. He knew his khuzdul... a little bit. He could understand it, mostly, but the tenses and gender signifiers always threw him when he tried to speak. He was marked a surface-born Erebor refugee the moment he opened his mouth. Dori could have been an Ereborian noblewoman, with her beautiful looks and her accent. Ori was young enough to pick up the Blue Mountain accent, sharpened only a touch by contact with Dori's, and fit right in. That left Nori as the odd one out, but it wasn't so bad. He wasn't the only surface-born who'd made his way to Ered Luin, and he made some friends with them. Nori's spotty khuzdul wasn't the worst of it.

The worst of it, for as long as Nori could remember, had always been Dori's disappointment that he didn't have a true craft. Nori was too old to be apprenticed in Ered Luin – not that anything really called to him. Smithing or mining or stonecarving did not call to him any more than pottery or weaving or farriery had interested him when he lived in towns of men. He was a fair hand at any number of different jobs, and he did alright as a tinker alongside Dori, doing simple work, but nothing called to him.

No, Nori took that thought back as he took off his pack to squirm through a smaller crack in the rock. He'd learned how to drag it along with his foot, a good trick for a Dwarf as small as him to get into even smaller places. The worst of it wasn't Dori's disappointment. The worst of it was that Nori's eyes, well-trained in the towns of Men when he and his siblings were young and starving, still roved over things that were not his. When he walked down a street, his mind cataloged the best ways to get into the houses and gone unseen with the valuables - the best way to get at the purses of the Dwarves around him.

He liked Ered Luin, but it was best Nori was not there when his fingers started twitching.

Dwarves had lived in the Blue Mountains since the founding of the world, if you believed those stories. There was no denying that Belegost and Nogrod had been huge sprawling civilizations under the stone before they fell, and so many smaller towns with them. It was no honest profession, but there was a living to be made searching out pockets of ruins deep in the mountains and ransacking them for old goods. The stone-born Dwarves of Ered Luin would look down their noses at anyone who did it, even as they would fight each other tooth and nail to buy a first-age earring, or comb, or hair clasp.

Nori wasn't ever going to be respectable, no matter what he did, and he seemed to have a knack for the stone and ruins. It was a living, and one that did not depend on stealing – or at least not stealing from anyone who was alive to care about it. They weren't about to starve anymore, but it was still money. It was that little extra he could give, something they could save up for if times went bad again. Nori would do anything for his siblings; absolutely _anything_ to make sure they were hale and whole and safe.

There was light ahead of Nori, and he squirmed his way through the pinched passageway toward it. The crack opened into a larger space, and Nori pulled up his bag to sling it over his shoulders again. He knew where he was, reviewing his knowledge of the Ered Luin environs in his mind. He knew this crack in the stone, knew a dozen passages into and out of Ered Luin from it, and there should not be light here. There had never been before. Nori walked, bemused, toward a side passage he'd never seen. How had he never seen it before? It was right there, and well lit. There wasn't much to be found so close to Ered Luin, it was well explored, but Nori had made a few good finds. Maybe this place was only lit when the sun was just right.

Nori squeezed through the crack, and froze. This was no ruin. This place was right on the backside of Ered Luin. Maybe some temple or rich household had pushed back into the mountain for more space? The ceiling was carved above him, vaulted like ribs, and at the heart of the place was a pedestal.

Nori walked up cautiously. He did not see any danger, no guardians, no traps. But a place like this must be protected, wouldn't it? Why would they not seal the crack he'd come in, if there was something here?

The floor was engraved with words spiraling inward and up the pedestal, all carved of a single piece. It was some old variant of khuzdul, not one Nori knew how to read. His boots followed the curved path of the letters, almost on their own. Nori's eyes followed the writing up the pedestal, and his breath caught on a moan.

Lying on the top of the pedestal was a set of knives, and they were _perfect_. There was no other word for them, no knives in the history of metalwork and gemsmithing had ever deserved the description, beside these knives.

They were just Nori's size, a Dwarvish angularity to the curved shape of the knives he'd first learned to fight with. He was damn good in a fight, and a good thing too. All Dwarves were male among Men, but Dori was womanly enough more than a few had picked up on it – especially when Ori was a baby in her arms. Dori could defend herself of course, she was stronger than Nori would ever be, but Nori was meaner. She hated fighting. Nori was always glad when he could protect her instead. Knives like these, but endlessly inferior to them, had served him well then.

The light _rippled_ off the blades, thousands upon thousands of folds lending a sense of depth, like silk, like water endlessly running over them. They were stamped with a maker's mark he did not recognize. The edge gleamed more wicked than any razor Nori'd ever slashed a rich strangers purse-strings with. Nori wasn't above _anything_ when little Ori cried for hunger.

It was the jewels, though, that caught Nori's eye. He could tell a first-age gem cut as well as any Dwarf. They couldn't cut amethysts like this anymore. These amethysts were deep, rich purple. They'd been the jewels of his mother's house in Erebor, hadn't they? Since the dragon, they couldn't even afford the palest amethyst for Dori to decorate herself with. Nori was surface-born, but he had a Dwarf's heart and it was going to break when he pried the gems out of these perfect knives to sell them. But he would do it. They'd be worth more sold separate from the blades than all together. For his family, he would do it.

Nori watched his hand, like a stranger's hand, reach out and take the knives. The leather-wrapped handles were warm, welcoming, as though he'd only just put them down. Nori marveled at the knives, _loved_ them fierce as any Dwarf could love beauty, for only an instant before the bells sounded.

Nori dropped the knives and sprinted back toward the crack he'd come from, heart in his throat. He should have known better. Why had he come in here? Why had he picked up something that was obviously not part of a ruin? Why hadn't he checked for alarms if he was going to do some burglary!? Everyone knew Dwarves were far harder to steal from than Men. Nori squeezed back through the crack and looked both ways down the main pathway. No one was coming after him, not yet, but they would be. He didn't recognize the bell pattern, it didn't sound like calling up the guard, but it must be. It must be something like that.

Which way was safer? Back toward Ered Luin, hide among other Dwarves until it blew over? Out of Ered Luin, out into the world of Men to hide? Nori hesitated, looking one way and the other, back the way he had come – it was dark now – and then down at his hands.

He was holding the knives.

Nori spat a sharp curse in Westron as he threw the knives back behind him and chose to go _out_ . Away from Dwarves would be safest. The knives were perfect, but they weren't worth his life or his family shame to be caught stealing them. They'd send guards after him – whoever it was he'd nearly stolen from. Guards, big burly Dwarves wearing armor. Nori blew out his lamp and made his way by feel and memory alone, headed toward a path even _he_ could only barely squeeze through. He took his pack off as he ran, holding it under his arm and tucking away his lamp and the knives...

_The knives!?_

Nori threw them away from himself as hard as he could, and for the first time he noticed that they did not make a sound. They did not clatter against the stone, or strike sparks in the darkness.

And Nori was holding the knives.

Cursed knives. He had picked up cursed knives, why had no one ever warned him of this? Nori shoved them into his pack and tried not to panic as he squirmed into a tiny crack in the stone.

First order of business had to be escaping from whoever was going to be after him. Then he could figure out how to break the curse and ditch the goods.


	2. Folk Tales

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dwalin's search

It was called _Ushmaru Khazâd_ , the guardian or the protector of the Dwarves. Dwalin had read all the legends – what was left of their lore, with their homelands destroyed beneath them again and again. She had listened to all the folk tales. At some time in the forging of the world and the making of the Dwarves, Mahal had seen fit to grant them a protection. That was the story in the Blue Mountains. Others said it was the masterwork of one of their own craftspeople. Some said that Durin herself had forged it, or that it was crafted in secret by all seven of the founding Dwarves before they were separated to sleep. Whatever it was, it was ancient, and it was powerful. The Dwarf who could take it became _Ushmar_ , the protector. They said that only a Dwarf with a pure heart could take it up for the protection of their people.

Dwalin spent decades searching for it.

Some said it did not actually exist, that it was nothing but a metaphor. Some, that the time of its use was over. Some said that the use of it would be a sacrilege. Dwalin saw her family brought so low with the fall of Erebor and the failure of Azanulbizar, and she did not care if it was a sacrilege. She wanted the protector in her own hands.

As the protector Dwalin could stand with her head held high, knowing she would never again fail her King. With that power Dwalin could see her house returned to its rightful place – warriors and warlords of legend once again, rather than common sellswords. She would never again feel the terror of a soldier fighting against the odds without hope. She would not be the exhausted child weeping herself raw in the battlefield as she set the bodies of friends and family, her father and her prince and her king, to burn.

With that power she might be enough.

Dwalin got close enough to _see_ it, once. It was just like the stories said. The protector appeared where Dwarves had a home. It was an open doorway you had never noticed before, and could not find again afterward. There was the cavernous hall, and the pedestal carved with a call to wield it for the good of the Dwarves, and the protector upon it. The legends said that it appeared differently to every Dwarf. There were tales of those who had wielded it as a great hammer, as a morningstar, a mace – a shield even, once. For Dwalin it was a set of axes, axes beside which no other axe was more than a blade on a stick. They were axes fit to cleave the mountains from their roots, carved of solid green jade and inset with gold.

Dwalin wanted them more than she'd ever wanted anything. With those axes she could return her family's honor; redeem herself before the King whose fathers she had failed. With those axes she could be the warrior she'd always been meant to be. But just as the stories warned, Dwalin reached for the axes and found herself outside the protector's hall. She could not find it again, try as she might.

Dwalin had searched for decades. Dwalin had studied every scrap of information available to her. Dwalin had trained, Dwalin had hoped, Dwalin had dreamed and desired and believed.

It should have been Dwalin, but someone else picked up _Ushmaru Khazâd_. Someone else was the protector. In Ered Luin bells rang joy, where there were no bells to sound, but no one came forth with it. The protector did not announce themself.

There was an undercurrent of panic in Thorin's halls. It was not one of theirs who had managed to find it. No one loyal to Durin's heirs had it, or they'd have brought it to the King's attention. Lady Dis sat shoulder-to-shoulder with Thorin in quiet conference, planning their moves should they be moved against.

There were those in the Blue Mountains who did not like the Dwarves of Erebor to be living there. Even the worst of the old Blue Mountain nobles were a better option than if it had been taken by a criminal faction; Dwarves who'd turn on their own kind for profit. The legends said it could only be wielded for the protection of Dwarves, but who knew how it truly worked? If it had been made by Mahal, of course it could not be abused – but they did not _know_ it had.

There were those who were angry it was taken, of course. Fingers were pointed at every quarter, but with the protector not appearing all accusations fizzled. There was no more someone to blame than there was someone to pin hopes onto. Lady Dis' sources – who remained anonymous to Dwalin – reported that they heard nothing from any quarter but that everyone wanted it. It should have been Dwalin who picked it up. If it was in her hands, they would have nothing to fear.

If the protector was not in Ered Luin, then they were outside it, that was simple enough. Dwalin packed her bags and left the mountain. She'd spent decades searching for _Ushmaru Khazâd_ , it should only be easier to find in the hand of a Dwarf. A warrior who was, somehow, deemed more worthy than Dwalin was.

Dwalin would find the protector. She had to.

She was not the only one looking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we'll see you on day 6 of nwalin week with chapter 3!


	3. Among Enemies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nori and Dwalin finally meet! (and there are smuts)

Nori got out of Ered Luin unseen and uncaught, and headed away from the city. Along the way he learned of multiple ways the cursed knives could not be ditched. Throwing them off a cliff did nothing. Throwing them into a lake, the same. Carefully engineering a rockslide over them was just as pointless. No matter what Nori did, the knives came back to his hands. There was some vindictive spell on them, and Nori didn't know if it would also draw their owner to him.

Tying the knives up with a silk thread did not nullify the magic, or sprinkling them with salt and ash, or bathing them in dew water, or any of the other ways Nori had ever heard of breaking small curses. This was bigger magic than he knew how to handle. He even found himself trying to _reason_ with the knives, begging them to leave him alone, that he hadn't meant to steal them. Nothing had any effect. The knives wanted to be close to Nori, it seemed. If they were too far away from him, he would find them in his hands. He took to carrying them on the back of his belt, replacing his old curved knives. They fit in the worn leather sheaths well enough. The handles were far too ornate, but some cloth wrapped around them disguised them.

The knives did not like to be disguised. They wanted to be found. It did not matter how carefully Nori wrapped them, or even if he _glued_ fabric over them. The wrappings invariably slipped free within a few days. He took to checking them every morning and night, to be sure they stayed hidden. He _had_ tried to pry the amethysts out of the handle, but gave up when one of his gem picks bent like a green twig and the gems did not budge. The knives were not made of mithril, Nori knew that much, but they might as well be where his tools were concerned. Whatever spell was on them protected them from the prying of gem thieves like him.

Nori could learn to live with the knives, the way he could learn to live with many inconveniences, but the knives were just a slipped piece of cloth away from being recognized. It was best he stayed away from Ered Luin, where people would be looking harder for the knives. He sent a letter to Dori and Ori, telling them he'd found work outside and not to worry, and set about trying to make that true. He hired on as a laborer loading wagons in a town of men for a while. His Dwarvish strength was a boon there, even if he'd never be as strong as Dori. Then he hired on with a small caravan to change towns.

Nori worked one job and then another. He didn't stay in any one place too long, working his way down the Blue Mountains. He didn't dare. He was pretty sure there _were_ Dwarves searching for him, and he didn't like the look of them. They didn't say what they were looking for, not in Nori's hearing, referring only to 'it' and 'the target'. His only salvation was that they didn't know what he looked like, that they seemed to be looking for more of a warrior than he was, that the instant he opened his mouth they heard the surface in his halting khuzdul and dismissed him.

It was almost as though he'd somehow gotten into the middle of a gang war. Nori'd done what he could to avoid the gangs in Ered Luin, those who'd wanted to recruit surface-born Dwarves. It had not seemed to him that the gangs of Ered Luin would outright kill each other. They were well-entrenched old power structures; they jockeyed for position, and weren't above hurting each other, but it was rare that their hostilities lead to deaths. Dwarves did not kill their own – but Nori was not so sure that applied to him anymore.

Nori kept his knife handles wrapped up tight, kept on the alert for danger, and kept moving.

 

Dwalin accepted her stew and bread with a grunt and settled in to eat. She was searching for the protector, but she still wasn't finding much of anything. At least the food at this inn was good, they didn't stint on the stew meat, and the ale when the woman brought it to her was rich and dark. Dwalin enjoyed her meal, even if the tables and chair were all a touch tall for even her. She didn't pay any attention to the comings and goings of the Men, until she heard a Dwarf's voice.

"And I'm telling you, I ain't your tinker when it's suppertime. Fix it yourself or find me when the sun's up." The Dwarf had bright red hair, easy to spot through the inn. There was a man looming and making threats, but the Dwarf didn't back down an inch.

The man made some sort of comment about how the Dwarf's prices were too high, and Dwalin gritted her teeth. Always her people were told their due was too much. When they starved they were told their work was not worth enough to buy food, and Dwalin's hand twitched for her axes.

"And they only get higher the longer you keep me from my food and ale," the Dwarf snapped back. "Keep talking and you won't be able to afford me at all."

The Man snarled something under his breath and stomped out, and Dwalin relaxed. Their people were doing better in the Blue Mountains now. They did not have to put up with abuse, and this Dwarf seemed to know that. The Dwarf shook their head and made their way deeper into the inn. He, Dwalin saw when the Dwarf was closer, he'd subtly marked himself as male with his braid style. Not that even the most blatantly feminine Dwarf women got anything but 'he' among Men.

"Edny, my precious moonflower!" the Dwarf greeted the serving woman effusively as he nimbly climbed up a tall stool to sit at the bar. "Swan of the night, queen among women. Say you've got a bowl of stew and a tankard of elderflower mead for a hardworking Dwarf?"

"Still your serpent tongue, you charmer," the woman laughed good naturedly. "I've got your supper right here."

The Dwarf was more comfortable among Men than Dwalin had ever been, and she watched him curiously as he ate his food and drank his mead and jested with the serving woman. Surface-born, if Dwalin had to guess, and he was no warrior either. He only had the one set of worn looking knives on the back of his belt. Dwalin felt something in herself relax, taking that in. He wouldn't be who she was looking for. Instead, he was just a Dwarf – built small and lean-lined, with big hair and a fine thick beard, neatly tended. His eyebrows, braided up into his hair, added a touch of roguishness to his narrow pale face.

He glanced over at Dwalin, and then took a second, longer look. He licked his lips slightly as his eyes swept over her tattooed hands in her knuckledusters, her scarred forearms, her shoulders, her axes, and all the way up to the top of her bristly warrior's crest before he met her gaze. His eyes widened when he saw Dwalin was looking right back, and he turned quickly back to his food.

Dwalin's lips twiched in a slight smile as she returned to her own meal. She didn't miss the way he slowly shifted around in his seat to be able to watch her. She let him, until she was done with her stew and had mopped up the last of it with her bread. She shoved her plate away to be collected, and caught his eye. He froze where he sat, looking half afraid but fully interested. He was young. Cute. Someone she wouldn't mind getting to know for a night, or longer if they got on and were going the same direction. Dwalin took a healthy pull of her ale, and gestured him over with a slight turn of her head. It was just an invitation, he could take it or leave it as he liked.

The Dwarf turned away from her, but Dwalin had hardly finished her ale when he was sliding into the bench beside her with two tankards. He was even smaller than she'd realized from across the inn, not that Dwalin minded.

"Elderflower mead?" he offered. "I'm Nori."

"Dwalin," Dwalin introduced herself. She accepted the tankard of mead from him, brushing her thicker fingers against his as she did. Nori's breath caught slightly, pupils wide. "Elderflowers," Dwalin mused, not drinking yet. "Sounds Elvish."

Nori licked his lips, narrow and pink, and Dwalin wanted to kiss them. Not here, though. Not among Men. Ridiculous creatures, Men, they thought all Dwarves were male and didn't tend to understand that affection knew no difference.

"Maybe, maybe..." Nori answered, not nearly as smooth as he'd teased the serving woman. He was nervous in his eagerness, and sipped his mead to cover it. It was a touch endearing. "But it's sweet and strong."

"Is that what you like?" Dwalin asked, picking up the mead to sip it. It was nice enough. "Strong and sweet?"

"Strong, definitely." Nori's eyes swept up Dwalin again, and his nimble fingertips brushed suggestively up her forearm. There was no doubt they were both talking about the same thing, and it wasn't the mead. Dwalin drank again, letting him stew for a bit.

"I'm not sweet," she warned, pitched low for only his ears. Nori's body trembled and he nodded slightly, accepting those implications with a hungry glint in his eyes. Dwalin leaned in closer, let her breath brush the pale bare skin behind his ear as she whispered in khuzdul. " _Would you like if I fucked you_?" the feminine version of 'I' ought to clue him in that she was a dam, even if he'd not caught the other subtle ways she marked herself.

Nori's breath caught in a faint whimper, and his lips moved over the sounds of the khuzdul she'd used. Dwalin waited, let him have the space he needed to think. " _I would_ , _please,_ " Nori finally answered. His hesitant khuzdul cemented him as surface-born, and no surprise he used the masculine form to refer to himself.

Dwalin smiled to herself and took another long pull of the mead before she set it aside.

"Come to my room," she invited, standing. Dwalin did not wait for him, he could follow if he liked, but Nori was right beside her as she set off toward it. This inn was not bad, it had a few small rooms on the ground level well suited for Dwarves. Nothing was too tall, and the walls were built of set stone, which was comforting. Dwalin crowded Nori against the heavy door as she barred it, bracketing him with her arms.

Nori was not so shy now they were away from the eyes of Men and were agreed on their course of action. His arms wrapped around Dwalin's neck, and one of his legs around her waist too as he arched his entire body against her. They knocked noses as they both pressed in for a kiss. Nori's mouth was hot against Dwalin's, a touch of sharp teeth against her lip before Dwalin pressed in further to claim his mouth with her tongue. Her hands found his body, palming his arse to hold him close as she stroked his back.

It was good, more than worth exploring, but Dwalin pushed away from him after only a brief foray. "Clothes off," she ordered, unbuckling her knuckledusters. She'd like to see him, see what she had to work with, and more importantly let him see the same. Dwalin moved aside to her pack to undress while Nori dropped his clothes were he stood. He couldn't seem to get them off fast enough, though he wore more layers than Dwalin did so it evened out.

"I'm _bearing Dwarf_ ," the khuzdul dropped awkwardly in the middle of Nori's breathless sentence. "So I'm easy to fuck. I want you to fuck me so bad. I'm so ready. I want to feel you. I want your cock and I want..."

Dwalin chuckled as she dropped her trousers and turned to face him. Nori broke off, face coloring red as he took her bare body in. He wouldn't be the first who'd assumed she was a seeding Dwarf – though any Dwarf should know to behave better.

"Oh," Nori breathed. He wasn't grabbing his things and heading for the door. That had happened to Dwalin once with a surface-born Dwarf; the dam in question had fled claiming to only like men. As though Dwalin wouldn't still be a woman if she'd been born seeding. The memory having been ungendered as though parts mattered more than heart the way they did among Men still rankled. Nori took a small step toward Dwalin, licking his lips again – no less eager than he'd been. "You are magnificent."

"Not bad yourself," Dwalin answered. Nori had a fine crop of red hair down his chest and belly, thickening to rough curls at the part of his legs. His chest was small, with pert pink unpierced nipples Dwalin would like to get her mouth on if he liked. He was small, but his limbs clearly had strength in them.

"How will we? How do you like?" Nori asked. His fingers twitched as he took another step forward. Dwalin wordlessly dug into her pack to pull out her favorite toy. She'd made it herself, smooth leather stuffed tight and hard with fabric. It was as large as the hammer she thought she'd have had she been born with one, satisfying girth in her hand. It was fun to fuck with, and plenty nice to turn the other direction and use on herself on a quiet night. Nori made a small strangled noise as she buckled the harness snug around her thigh. That was answer enough for his question. He wanted to be fucked, and she had the tools and desire to do it. Dwalin pulled a little vial of oil out of her pack and poured a little over the leather toy to prime it.

"Here's my cock for you," Dwalin said, spreading the oil around so the toy gleamed. "Or I prefer, hammer. What do you call yours?" she gestured to all of him. Always best to use what words a lover liked. Nori had stepped closer again as she worked, but he stopped. His brow furrowed, arms drawing in closer to himself.

"I..." he hesitated. "I just... Well it's a cunt isn't it?" he asked, gesturing uncomfortably toward the part of his legs.

Dwalin purposefully did not flinch at the crude westron word. If that was Nori's preference, then that's what he had. She took one step to nearly close the distance between them, body curving a bare inch from his but not touching anywhere but on his far hip where her hand held him in place, and his near hand in hers. She pulled his hand toward her chest and he went willingly, bright hazel eyes looking up into hers. She cupped his hand against her breast.

 _"My breasts_." Dwalin slid his hand downward to the part of her legs, cupping the heat and softness of her center together. _This is my center, or my sex._ " Dwalin used the feminine word endings and spoke slowly in khuzdul so Nori could follow, low and quiet, leaning close so her breath brushed his neck. She held him there for a moment before she curled one of her fingers inward, bringing his with it to press into her. Nori gasped, trembling as though it were his own body they breached. " _My forge_." It might do him good to hear other words that could be used, so Dwalin told him. They fucked her slowly with their fingers together while she told him she'd heard others call theirs forge with the masculine ending, or passage in a variety of genders, or shaft, or entrance, or simply front. _"My gemstone_ ," Dwalin brought their slicked fingers up to rub her gem. It was hot and swollen with desire already. " _Fire ruby, richest of gems. Others call theirs hammer, button, pearl_..."

Nori whined slightly in his throat, and closed the distance between their bodies. He kissed any other words from her mouth, desperate hunger on his lips. Dwalin groaned as Nori's fingers began rubbing on their own, a quicker pace against her gem. That was enough of lessons.

Dwalin pulled Nori closer, maneuvering her thigh between his legs. He was short enough against her that her hammer rubbed against him, and he gasped against her lips. She cupped his arse in her palm, gave it a good squeeze before she slid her fingers downward through his crease. He was hot and wet against her fingers, and Dwalin pressed two fingers into him, deep as she could with the awkward angle. He squeezed on her fingers, whimpering as he tried to fuck himself back on them.

"You're ready." It was not a question, but Nori nodded and whimpered his agreement. Dwalin backed up to the bed, pulling Nori with her. The mattress was comfortable enough to sit on, and Dwalin bounced her thigh a bit in invitation. Even if Nori had never been with someone using a thigh harness before, he was eager enough he made short work of figuring it out. He straddled Dwalin's leg and fucked himself down on her hammer in quick little rises and falls. Nori did not make it all the way to the base before he seemed to reach his limit. There'd be time to work him up to that, no need to rush and hurt him.

"You're so big," Nori gasped, head thrown back. He ground his hips in a circle on her hammer, spread wide for her and leaving the leather gleaming with his slick.

"Aye," Dwalin agreed, rocking her leg back and forth to give him a little more stimulation.

"Oh," Nori's nails bit into Dwalin's shoulders, a shiver running through his body and leaving his little pink nipples pebbled up tight. "Oh Dwalin."

"Can you finish from this," Dwalin asked. She held his hips, guiding and assisting him in the rise and fall as he fucked himself.

"No," Nori admitted. "No, but it feels so _good_."

"Where can I touch you?" Dwalin asked. Nori was a beautiful show like this, but she'd like to watch him fall apart on her hammer, under her hands.

"Everywhere." Nori gave blanket permission. His spine arched, head thrown back to bare his long pale throat. Dwalin grinned as she kept him rising and falling, and leaned forward to sink her teeth into it. It just begged for a mark, and Nori's moan was fine encouragement. His fingers tangled in the rough hair of her crest and pulled her in only closer. Dwalin gave him a second bite beside the first, higher under his beard, before Nori pulled her up to kiss her again. Dwalin slid one hand up from his hip to his chest, begging silent permission, which he granted by pressing into her hand. She cupped his chest, enjoying the softness of it, before she slowly rubbed the ball of her thumb across his nipple. This earned her a moan, and Dwalin leaned down to take Nori's other nipple in her mouth. It was every bit as sweet as she'd hoped, tight and firm between her lips, and Nori's entire body trembled when she sucked.

Nori was fun to play with, sensitive and hungry. His neck and shoulders bore the marks of her teeth, bright pink that would fade against his pale skin soon enough, but present for the moment. It was a good look on him, as was the dampness of sweat from his exertion that gleamed on him and dampened the hair on his chest. He responded best when Dwalin touched him firm, rough – pinched or bit his nipples, dug her fingers into his hips as she lifted him up and shoved him down hard on her hammer. He was small and she was big, but his body had opened for her hammer, stretched to yield and take her entire length. His slick liberally decorated the leather harness on her thigh, so wet he squelched with each rise and fall.

Dwalin was plenty wet herself when she moved one of his hands down to her sex. "Rub my gem," she ordered. "Firm, slick." Even lost in his pleasure, Nori was more than willing to obey. His fingers were clever, and Dwalin moaned her own encouragement.

Nori tried to rub his own as well, but he could not seem to find a balance he liked. He huffed in frustration as he grabbed ahold of Dwalin's shoulder again instead. "Please?" he gasped, bright hazel eyes begging. "I'm close."

Dwalin wet the ball of her thumb with his slick from her hammer, and flicked it viciously across his – gem? He'd given her no other word for it. Nori was spread so wide on her hammer, his gem exposed and defenseless against her onslaught. His body bucked, sharp little gasps and whimpers as he lost coordination. Dwalin rubbed him hard and quick, his gem trapped between her thumb and her hammer. Nori's moans rose in pitch, nearly sobbing with it but not asking for less. His legs spread wider as he ground down on her thigh, taking her entire hammer and bearing down as though he could take more.

Dwalin rocked her thigh beneath him, moving her hammer inside him, and Nori's nails bit into her shoulder. He was aware enough not to try the same on her gem, but not enough to keep rubbing her. No matter, he was beautiful like this.

"Deep," Nori gasped, face screwed up as though in pain. "So big." Anything else he would have said was lost in a breathless squeal that broke off in open-mouthed silence as he reached his peak. His body squirmed and shook, bucking tremors taking him as he ground down on her hammer, but Nori climaxed in surprising silence considering how vocal he'd been before. Nori gasped, and gasped again, and finally batted Dwalin's hand weakly away from his groin as he collapsed against her chest.

Nori's body shook against her, breath trembling nearly like sobs. Dwalin wrapped an arm around him, stroking his back a little awkwardly. "There," Dwalin said. "There you are. Alright, lad?"

Nori gave a breathless little laugh. "Very alright. Wonderful." He seemed to remember his hand between her legs and began rubbing her gem again. Dwalin groaned her encouragement, rocking her hips against his hand. Her thigh moved, moving her hammer in him, and his whimper breathed hot against her skin as he melted toward her.

"This is nice," Nori mused. "So nice. You in me so big. Feeling you. Touching you. You holding me."

"Here, then." Dwalin shifted them, grabbing the bed cushions to give herself something to recline against. "Turn around."

Nori tried to turn around without coming off her hammer twice before giving up with a slight pout and lifting himself off. Dwalin rearranged herself as she liked, and pulled him down to sit on her leg, leaning back against her chest. Nori groaned at the position, leaning back this way her hammer would be rubbing harder against the sensitive front wall of his cunt. Dwalin wrapped her arms around his body, holding him as he liked and petting a bit. It only took him a moment to realize how naturally his hand fell back to Dwalin's sex, and he resumed stroking her gem.

"Harder," and "keep it slick," Dwalin ordered, but Nori did not need much instruction. Dwalin's arms tightened around him as he teased up her own climax. The pleasure washed through her waiting body, deep in her muscles, shaking in her very bones before it burnt its way out through her skin in bucking moaning ecstasy.

"Oh, I could feel that..." Nori breathed, stroking himself quickly to a second quiet-whimpering climax squirming on her hammer. They lay together quietly for a little, basking in the glow of their coupling, before Nori eased himself off Dwalin's hammer and flopped bare and limp and happy on her bed. Dwalin unbuckled the harness from her thigh and reclined beside him as she cleaned and re-oiled the leather. It would not do to leave one of her favorite tools untended.

"It's so big," Nori mused, tracing nonsense shapes on Dwalin's thigh with a single fingertip, just close and affectionate after their coupling. His eyes were bright, looking up at the toy. "I'll be tender." His smile said he did not consider that a bad thing. Dwalin patted his back and continued her task. Nori did not seem to be in any hurry to leave, and Dwalin was in no rush to get rid of him. He was a sweet lad, and an attractive sight lying naked on her bed with his big hair all disheveled.

Nori cursed suddenly, sharp westron, when Dwalin went to put her toy away in her pack. She looked over to see him with knives in his hands, and her own dove for her axes – how had he gotten them? He'd left them across the room and come to her bed bare. But Nori was not holding the knives as though he intended attack. He shoved them away from himself, and then cursed again as the rough cloth wrapping the handles peeled away – revealing the glitter of amethysts and the rich gleam of gold. Nori's hands darted, trying to cover the gems back up, but Dwalin's eyes had fallen to the blades of the knives. She'd already seen the writing stamped into the expertly-worked metal. The words that should have been written in gold on her jade axes.

"You?" It made no sense. It could not be. He wasn't a warrior. He was just a lad, a _surface-born_ tinker who could barely even speak khuzdul. "You have it?" It was not right. It was not fair. After all Dwalin had given, after how hard Dwalin had tried, _Ushmaru Khazâd_ chose _him_ ? She'd given her blood, her family, her _life_.

Nori clutched the knives to his naked chest, whites visible all the way around his eyes. He'd never fought in a battle, never put his life on the line for kin and king, and he was chosen? Dwalin had given so much, but he was the one deemed worthy above her?

"Why?" Dwalin demanded, stomping a step forward. "Why would it choose you? What have you ever given? Where were you when we fought and died for Khazad-dum?"

"Starving in a refugee camp!" Nori snapped back. There was fear in the wideness of his eyes, the flare of his nostrils, but he was not backing down. "I was a _child_ when the warriors abandoned us all. I ended it stealing in the towns of Men so my little brother would _never_ have to know what it's like to cry to sleep around an empty belly."

"A thief." Dwalin could hardly believe it. How unworthy was she if a _thief_ was chosen before her.

"And proud of it," Nori hissed through his teeth, eyes blazing hard. "I'd do anything for my bro- my siblings. Anything at all."

The bedrock of the world was cracked beneath Dwalin's feet, but there was no denying what she saw. The tattered cloth had fallen away completely from the knives, revealing them – beautiful first-age gem and metal working, and wrong. _Ushmaru Khazad_ should have been her axes. She should have been good enough for the protector. She'd tried so hard, for so long. She needed it so much, and it chose a Dwarf who was barely even a Dwarf. A surface-born Dwarf who could hardly speak their language and had no honor in him.

Nori was no warrior. He was clutching the knives to his chest, not in any way prepared to fight with them. They were useless to him.

Dwalin did not know what she might have done, had they not heard Dwarf voices from outside the room. Dwalin held a hand up for silence, straining her ears.

"Nah, it's got to be in here. You saw her. Warrior like that, all the way out here? She's got to have it."

"I still don't think the target exists. Not that it matters. Let's drag her in."

Dwalin hissed under her breath, grabbing her long shirt and her axes, even as her heart broke. Even whoever criminals these were thought _she_ was the protector. Nori had heard it too. He was shaking on the bed, eyes rolling to the windows – air vents far too small even for him. His breath picked up in panic.

"Hide behind the bed," Dwalin hissed at him, flexing her arms and readying her axes. "I'll send them off." As if to prove that he really was not a warrior, Nori did not hesitate to hide.

"Count of three we'll..."

Dwalin flung the door of her room open, glaring down the Dwarves before it. They'd expected to catch her asleep, and stumbled back.

"These axes are not _Ushmaru Khazâd_." Dwalin lifted grasper and keeper, worn and sure in her hands. She took a threatening step forward. "But they served me well against the Orcs at Azanulbizar and they'll serve well enough to take your heads if you disturb my sleep again!" She ended on a roar, and the Dwarves fled. Cowards. Three grown Dwarves, and no match for one half-dressed dam. There were angry shouts from other rooms as her shout woke other guests. Dwalin slammed her door closed and barred it again. She huffed her disgust and dropped her axes back by her pack.

Dwalin knee-walked over the bed to look down the crack where Nori was hiding. She could not feel anything now, just bone-deep weariness. Nori looked up at her with bright tears running down from the corners of his eyes, trembling. He was just young, and naked, and afraid.

"Take them," he whispered, lifting the knives toward her.

"They're yours," Dwalin answered, sitting on her haunches. He had been chosen, and not her.

Nori climbed out of the crack behind the bed and shoved the knives at her, smacked them flat against her chest. Dwalin's hands came up and caught them on instinct. _Ushmaru Khazâd_ , in her own hands.

"They're not worth my life," Nori hissed. "Take the cursed things away, if they'll go with you. I was just ruins hunting. I didn't mean to steal them, and I can't get rid of them. It's not worth being hunted and driven away from my family."

The knives were just knives in Dwalin's hands. They were balanced wrong, the handles too small for her big hands. They were fantastic work, masterful, but they were not for her. Her own old axes would be better weapons in her hands, and Dwalin's heart cracked again at the realization.

Dwalin handed them back to Nori, his words finally sinking in. "You don't know what these are, do you?" she asked.

Nori shook his head.

Dwalin rubbed her face with her hand. Who had studied the lore of the protector more than she had? "Then I'll teach you," she sighed.


	4. Camping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dwalin and Nori get to know each other a little better

The fact that Nori _hadn't_ in fact stolen the knives so much as been chosen by them did not help much, when he was still being hunted for them. _Ushmaru Khazâd_ , the protector of the Dwarves. Nori laughed until he couldn't breathe when he finally understood what Dwalin was trying to explain about them. Legendary weapons that had graced the hands of heroes through the ages. Every Dwarf wanted _ushmar_ on their side, the protector, the most powerful warrior of their generation.

"I'm not," Nori told Dwalin, choking back the laughter that was turning more than slightly hysterical. "I'm not that. I'll never be."

Dwalin weighed Nori with her deep brown eyes for longer than was comfortable. "You're not," she finally agreed, and settled into one of her brooding moods.

Nori had only intended to know Dwalin for one night, but then she decided she was his teacher. He could not deny he needed one. He needed her knowledge. Nori had the best education Dori'd been able to give him while both of them worked, but he'd never had any formal schooling. He didn't know the legends of the protector, and he needed to know as much as he could about what he was stuck with.

Nori finished up the tinker work he'd taken in this town, collected his coin, and left. He had considered sneaking away without Dwalin. He was not entirely sure he trusted her. She admitted upfront she was loyal to King Thorin and was searching for the protector for him. At the same time, she wasn't with any of the gangs who were less scrupulous about getting people to _agree_ before taking them places. She'd run them off, and given no hint that Nori was who they were really looking for.

With two Dwarves together, and Dwalin being a warrior, Nori did not need to be careful and stick to guarded caravans. They could go wherever they liked through the Blue Mountains. Dwalin suggested they stay away from Men so they could speak freely, and Nori decided they should go in search of ruins.

Having Dwalin along was awkward at first. Once they were on their own, away from anyone who could overhear them, she decided to speak to him only in khuzdul. It wasn't like stone-born Dwarves who took to speaking in khuzdul around surface-born to make fun of them. She spoke slowly and carefully to be sure he understood, and corrected his mistakes when he tried to answer in the same language. Nori chaffed that Dwalin was treating him like a child. It did not help that she was terrifyingly attractive. Her height and the breadth of her shoulders, the strength of her arms and thighs, the memory of her hands and her teeth and her hammer called to Nori. She strode through the world as though nothing in it could challenge her. Dwalin's deep rough voice, especially in khuzdul, especially in the rhythmic cadences of epic poetry when she recited it for him, seemed to be specifically designed to spark Nori's hunger.

They hadn't tumbled again, after the first time. Dwalin hadn't touched Nori since she discovered he had the protector. She treated him like a pupil, a child, and did not touch him. It would have been fine had they parted ways the way they were supposed to after their night together, she would have been a sweet memory, but instead Dwalin was right there in front of Nori all the time.

It came to a head the evening Nori returned from setting his snares to find Dwalin lunging through her axe forms – stripped nearly bare with the thin fabric of her undershirt sticking to her body from sweat. It would take a far stronger Dwarf than Nori not to stop and stare. Dwalin winked and wagged her eyebrows at him over her shoulder when she caught him at it.

Nori jerked his eyes away from Dwalin and stomped away to start the fire for their supper. He might have broken the kindling into more manageable pieces with more vigor than necessary, anger at her and himself burning in the back of his teeth.

" _Did I offend_ ?" Dwalin asked when she was done with her axe forms. She'd taken her shirt off, and used it to wipe the sweat from her face and neck. The steel bars through her nipples gleamed against the deep brown of her skin, just begging Nori to touch, to taste. " _I will not do it again, if you do not want_."

Nori seethed, searching his mind for the right khuzdul. " _I do want_ ," he answered. Dwalin opened her mouth to correct him, and Nori dropped the language, falling into westron where he could speak his mind. "Of course I want you. Look at you. I don't want to be treated like a child and laughed at for it." Why wouldn't she see him as a child, when he couldn't even form the simplest sentences without making mistakes? There was a reason Nori tended to take his lovers among the surface-born, like him. Dwarves like Dwalin only had pity, condescension, or mockery for him. He'd hardly believed his luck when she wanted him, but the one night he'd intended to have with her was long past.

Dwalin stepped closer, towering over him, and Nori swallowed down the whimper his throat wanted to make. "I don't see a child," she said. It was nearly a shock to hear westron in her mouth after so long.

Her gaze swept up and down him, and his own could not help but follow on hers. Her powerful scarred body was magnificent, from her boots to the top of the wiry crest of her hair. Nori's fingers twitched to dig into the thick pelt of hair down her chest and belly, but he controlled them. He wanted to kiss her, to feel her body all against his, the strength of her arms around him.

"I see a Dwarf," Dwalin continued, eyes drilling into his. "One I enjoyed sharing pleasure with, and would like to again."

Nori could not hold in the whimper when her big hand cradled the nape of his neck. He did not know if he kissed her or she kissed him – only the feel of her body against his as she bore him all the way to the ground to kiss the breath out of him.

Things were easier between them after that. Dwalin backed off being teacher, some. They spoke in westron more, and tried to get to know each other a little. She spoke of family and home and the things that were important to her, and listened when Nori told as much as he felt safe telling of his family. He didn't want her to know who Dori and Ori were. Dwalin seemed alright, but he didn't know if she might tell someone who'd try to use them against Nori because of the protector.

In the evenings, they could lie together. Nori was not often in the mood for her oversized hammer and the tender ache it left in him, but there were more than a few ways they could have pleasure without that. Dwalin's touch was strong and sure on his body, he could not get enough of her hands on him, her fingers in him. Dwalin was fond of Nori's mouth. Her own body could take her hammer much more easily than Nori's could, and he enjoyed fucking her with the big toy while he sucked and polished her gem.

Even on nights they didn't have sex Nori could lay his head on Dwalin's chest while she stroked his back and recited the old epics – all the old stories she knew of heroes who'd held the protector.

"It is meant for the protection of the Dwarves," Dwalin told him. "If you would come to Thorin..."

Nori shook his head. "I just want to take care of my family, that's all." He had nothing against King Thorin. Dori liked him and he'd done alright by the refugees, but Nori didn't care much beyond that. What Nori would like most was to get back to his own life, without the cursed knives hanging over him. There was nothing in Dwalin's stories about how to get _rid_ of the protector. Plenty of Dwarves had died in glorious charges with it in their hands, and there were a few who'd defeated their foes and gone on to live in peace, but no story of anyone like Nori.

 

Dwalin and Nori traveled up into the mountains together without incident. It took them some time to learn how to be around one another, of course, but they managed it soon enough. Nori set traps to catch them game every night, even when they were close enough to the lands of Men that they'd surely consider it poaching. Nori had a good eye for where to set his little wire snares, and there was hardly a night he didn't catch them at least one bird or rabbit. Dwalin didn't mind the extra meat. They could both cook simple foods well enough, and traded the task back and forth. Nori was a fine travel companion, and an eager bed companion as well, which made it all the nicer.

Dwalin might have enjoyed traveling with him even if Nori were not somehow the protector – not that she would likely have taken up with him so long if he weren't. It did not make sense, that Nori had been chosen. Dwalin could not puzzle it out in her mind. Nori was a decent enough Dwarf, but the scope of his focus was narrow. Just himself and his siblings, that was all he cared about.

Nori gave of himself generously. He easily shared his hunting, his camp, his company, and his body with Dwalin. Anything to do with his family, and he guarded his words. Nori did not trust her with them. When they reached the ruins Nori wanted to explore, he guarded whatever he found in their depths just as carefully. If he found anything at all, he never showed Dwalin. His findings were money for his family, and he took no risks with them.

Dwalin had had enough of ruins for one lifetime. She had no need to go crawling down in the dark of broken stonework. These were the Blue Mountains, not the Misty Mountains. There were not going to be orcs in the depths, but Dwalin would rather not waken the war memories in the back of her mind. Let Nori steal from the dead, Dwalin was comfortable enough staying above ground.

Nori laughed when Dwalin mentioned it. "That's the nice thing about the dead, they ain't around to care if you're stealing from them." Dwalin didn't feel right about it, but Nori did not have to answer to her.

Dwalin spent her time making their camp comfortable. They were tucked beneath and outcrop of stone for shelter, and she built them a better roof above to keep dry. Building rough shelters on the surface was something most refugees had learned quickly, after Erebor fell. The same with a good fire pit and comfortable seating. Their bed she made more comfortable as well – a rough pile of dried grasses with a blanket tucked down tight around it nearly made a mattress. Dwalin could nearly laugh at herself for having constructed them a lover's bower, far away from anyone else in the world. Nori would squirm off into the ruins with a small pack of supplies, and come back gray and filthy with dust a few hours or as much as a few days later. Dwalin tended to the snares and fished and improved the camp, so there was food and shelter when he returned. Times they spent together they discussed the lore of the protector, in westron mostly, and Dwalin answered what questions of Nori's she could. That was, when she didn't have Nori bucking and trembling his pleasure in her arms.

Dwalin set a pot of fish stew to simmer over the coals of their evening fire, and wondered if tonight would be one of the nights they shared pleasure. Nori had taken extra care with his washing after he returned from the ruins after days of searching. His long red hair was unbound, and he swore quietly at the tangles as he finger-combed oil through it. Hair down and half naked was a good look on Nori, not that Dwalin envied him the tangles in his long hair. The fading light of day and the glow of the coals lit Nori warmly, and Dwalin leaned back and just admired him.

Nori did not immediately braid his hair back up when he was done. He played with it, as though considering different styles, before he looked over at Dwalin.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked, more hesitant than was his usual.

"Of course." Dwalin reached toward him, inviting him to come sit with her, and Nori was quick to take up the offer. She sat him in her lap, and gave a little bounce of her thigh under him to make him blush. He ducked his head down to lay it on her shoulder, but not before Dwalin saw his smile. She gently stroked her hand over his soft hair, smoothing it down, as she waited for his question.

"How... how did you know that you're a dam?" Nori asked.

Dwalin pondered that carefully. It did not seem he was the sort to think she couldn't be a dam and a warrior both. It hadn't sounded like that sort of a question. "It's the one that fit the best," Dwalin answered. She stroked his hip, and then slid her hand upward under his loose hair to pet the warm skin of his side. "How did you know you're male, and not any other type?"

Nori shrugged, curling in closer to Dwalin's chest, picking at the buttons of her tunic. "I was 'he' as long as I can remember? I mean, _Men_ , and I had a bit of beard from the start," Nori explained, and that wasn't right. The very thought of it made Dwalin's heart hurt for all the surface born given no choice. She gave Nori a tighter squeeze as he continued. "And I wasn't a dam the way my mother and my older sibling were, all beauty and delicate manners, so I figured I wasn't? But you're not like that."

"I'm not," Dwalin agreed.

"So how do I know?" Nori asked, a thread of desperation beginning to creep in. "I was thinking so much, alone under the stone, and I don't _know_ what I am."

Dwalin held Nori tighter, rocking back and forth a bit as if she were holding a dwarfling in need of comfort. "You don't have to know," she reassured, pressing a kiss to Nori's forehead.

"But _everyone_ knows," Nori protested.

"No, they don't," Dwalin contradicted. "Even I might change my mind." She'd been a dam long enough, and comfortably enough, she doubted she'd change – but there were Dwarves who changed after longer. "And you might never be one or the other, there's plenty of Dwarves who aren't, or who change. It's just..." Dwalin cast about, trying to find a way to describe it. Who'd have thought she'd be trying to explain something so simple and basic to a grown Dwarf? "It's like having a weapon." Dwalin's eyes fell on grasper, and she picked the familiar axe up to demonstrate. "This axe is a good weapon. I use it because it suits me. It has served me well. If it no longer serves me, or a mace or a hammer suits me better, I can let it go. No one can say I was wrong for using an axe when it served me. If I pick up the axe again after using a mace, and like it better, I was not wrong for using a mace when it served me. It's just a tool. It can be whatever you want it to be."

Nori breathed more freely. "It's just a tool," Nori breathed, soft words repeating as the tension eased.

"Just a tool," Dwalin agreed. She brushed the hair back to be able to see Nori's face. "Will you try a different one?" she asked.

Nori hummed thoughtfully for a moment. "Not right now," Nori decided. "I think 'he' is a familiar tool, for now."

"Let me know if you decide different," Dwalin told him. She could feel the smile on Nori's lips when he kissed her.


	5. Possibilities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nori and Dwalin part ways, and do some thinking

"What are you going to tell him?" Nori asked. They'd spent a good few weeks together, but he and Dwalin would be parting ways in the morning. Nori was off to sell his findings – not that he'd told Dwalin about where he was going – and Dwalin was heading home to Ered Luin to see King Thorin.

Dwalin leaned her knee against his, poking at their evening campfire with a long twig. Her expression was gentle on her gruff face when she looked over. She sighed. "That the protector is not _against_ us."

"Don't..." Nori swallowed hard. "Don't tell him who I am?" he begged. Only Dwalin knew he had the protector, and he trusted her well enough, but he couldn't have anyone else after him. He didn't know King Thorin, or what he might be capable of. Nori didn't want to have to hide from people searching for _him_ and not just the legend of the protector. He could change his hair and beard, and travel further in the lands of Men, but he would rather not have to run more than he was running away already.

Dwalin's big hand rested on Nori's back, strong and comforting. "I won't," Dwalin promised. "I won't tell anyone." Dwalin was utterly loyal to Thorin, Nori knew that, but if she promised he believed her. Maybe it was a mistake, but he did.

Nori scooted closer to her, and Dwalin tucked him close against her side to cuddle. Nori still barely knew Dwalin, but it felt good there, safe even. For all she'd warned she wasn't sweet, she was a bit. Nori would miss sleeping with her warmth at his back – traveling with her axes at his side. It was for the best they parted ways, though. They were an odd pair, and neither of them could easily get work where the other did. Splitting up would help keep Nori, and the protector, unnoticed. He shivered at the vague dread of what could happen if he were found out by someone less honorable than Dwalin.

"I won't tell," Dwalin repeated, maybe misinterpreting his shiver. She rubbed her thumb across Nori's cheek. "If you come to Thorin, it will be your own choice."

 .

"Did you find the protector?" Thorin asked, before Dwalin was even done eating.

"Aye," Dwalin answered, and took another bite. The roast ribs were fat and juicy on the inside, and beautifully crisp on the outside. If Thorin wanted more of an answer, he shouldn't have asked when she was eating. There was having a good camp with plenty of wild game, and then there was being home with tender meat on the table. The two could not be compared.

"And?" Thorin pressed.

Dwalin swallowed, remembering Nori's frightened face. She would not betray his trust. "And the protector is not against us," she answered. The sauce on the ribs was very good, sweet and savory and hot with spices, perfect complement to the meat. Dwalin sucked every last drop off the bone and bit the cartilage off the end. It was tender and flavorful itself from slow roasting.

"Dwalin," Thorin's tone had a hint of warning. "They are not against us, but they are not with us? Who are they with? What do we need to sway them?"

Dwalin shook her head and dropped the clean bone, reaching for another. Thorin's hand covered her plate, blocking her. Anyone else who did that ran the risk of losing a hand. Dwalin finally met Thorin's gaze.

"You know how important this is, Dwalin," Thorin continued, low and quiet, eyes burning. "We cannot afford to have them turn against us, we have few enough warriors to hold our positions here. With the protector on our side, nothing could stand in our way. We could take back Erebor from the worm, with a warrior so strong!"

"It's not like that," Dwalin protested. Nori was not a warrior, and the protector had not made him one. It was just a good knife in his hands. Nori was right when he protested that he was no hero. He would be just as powerless against the dragon as the rest of them were.

"Dwalin, we _need_ the strongest warrior of our age," Thorin started, voice rising.

"If it wanted the strongest warrior, it would have let me take it!" Dwalin roared back. She bit her lips, looking away from Thorin. They all knew she was searching for the protector, but she'd never told anyone of her failure when she actually found it. She'd been too ashamed.

"Dwalin," Thorin's hand rested on her shoulder. "My shield-sister..."

"I found it once, here in your halls. Green jade axes fit to cleave the mountains, and I could not take them." Dwalin shrugged out from under Thorin’s hand and took another rib. "It doesn't want me." Nori had tried to give them to her, too. He did not even want them. No matter what they tried, the protector would not leave him. The knives were his, much as he cursed when they returned to his hands. "The Dwarf it chose is no warrior," she finished. Nori could fight, she'd watched him practice his knife moves, but he was more the type to stab and run than seek out danger and face it head-on.

Thorin sat back, brooding on it. He let Dwalin finish the ribs and begin mopping up the last of the sauce with some bread before he interrupted again.

"How are they not a warrior?" he asked. "The protector is always a great warrior."

Dwalin shook her head. "I don't understand," she admitted. "Maybe the time of its use _is_ past. The protector's not a bad Dwarf, but the only thing they care to protect is family." Nori was careful to protect his family even from her. There was very little she could have told Thorin, even if she'd been telling him anything.

"Even so, we cannot risk the protector turning against us," Thorin said. "If I could speak with them or their family directly – or Dis, she has a gentler hand."

Dwalin shook her head again. "The protector doesn't want to be found." She finished the last of the bread and sauce and wiped her mouth and hands on her napkin. Thorin was not pleased by the lack of information, his jaw tensed as he considered his next line of questioning. Dwalin cast about for something she _could_ tell him. "Make sure the surface-born are well treated," she suggested, and Thorin's eyes went wide.

"Surface-born?" Thorin no more than mouthed the words, and Dwalin nodded. That was the salt in the wound, wasn't it? Dwalin couldn't resent Nori for it, it wasn't his fault and he wasn't a bad Dwarf, but at the end of the day a surface-born thief who didn't know what the protector was had been chosen above her. Dwalin pushed her empty plate away and stood, stretching out her travel-sore muscles. She'd come to see Thorin first, but she wasn't in a mood to visit anymore. She could come back another time to visit with Dis and spar with Fili and Kili.

"I need a bath," Dwalin decided. She needed hot water to soak away the ache of travel and the bitterness of defeat. She let Thorin pull her in for a hug, sharing silent comfort with him for a moment before she left.

 .

Dwalin swung the blunted practice axe back into position, facing off against Fili and Kili. The princen and princess were well young but well trained, and at their best working in tandem.

"Back on your feet," Dwalin urged Kili, fending off Fili's attack. "Do not leave your sibling undefended!"

"I don't like axes," Kili grumbled, rolling back up to her feet and diving into the attack. "Give me a bow, or a sword at least!"

"And when you're out of arrows, and your sword is knocked out of reach?" Dwalin asked, disarming her in demonstration. "You'll fight with what's at hand!"

Fili threw one of er axes to Kili, and ran for the axe Dwalin had knocked away.

"Well done!" Dwalin praised their teamwork, fending off several more attacks from both of them. They were good fighters, even if Kili did tend to complain more than necessary. She'd grow out of it, she was young still. Fili at least knew enough to keep er mind on the fight, and didn't say much beyond occasional tactic suggestions. Between the two of them, they kept Dwalin on her toes – though they were not without areas for improvement.

"Axe _up_ Kili!" Dwalin instructed. "Keep it ready. No weapon is any better than the hand that holds it!"

The realization, her own words, hit Dwalin hard enough she missed Fili's attack. Her inattention was rewarded with an axe blow to her thigh – even a padded practice axe with Fili's power behind it would leave a nasty bruise. Dwalin bellowed and disarmed Fili who'd frozen in surprise at having gotten through her guard. Dwalin forced her focus back to the young Dwarves she was training but the words circled through her mind.

_No weapon is better than the hand that holds it._

__

 .

Dwalin was no stranger to the library of Ered Luin. She'd spent long hours there over the years studying the lore of the protector. She did not go for the folk tales this time, or the legends. She went searching only for the historical tellings – as close to the source as she could find. Dwalin knew her growling at the scarcity of records had grown too loud when one of the apprentice scribes who was training to be a recordkeeper as well was sent to deal with her.

"Is there anything I can help you find?" the scribe asked. Their khuzdul bore just a slight hint of Erebor. They were small even for an apprentice, they hadn't even begun to chose at genders yet, and ducked as though they wanted to hide in their big knitted scarf. Curse the recordkeepers for knowing that Dwalin would not vent her ire at a little one.

"Old records." Dwalin kept her tone civil. "Do you have any of Rekkr?" Rekkr was the most famous of those who'd wielded the protector. If there were records of anyone, there might be of her.

"The Ballad of Rekkr and Thrasir?" The scribe asked, brightening hopefully. "We have several versions!" That was everyone's favorite, wasn't it? It was one of the first Dwalin had learned to recite from start to finish. She shook her head.

"I need records of Rekkr before she was the protector," Dwalin clarified. "Of _any_ protector before they were the protector. Historical records, not legends."

"Oh," the scribe deflated slightly as they bit their lips. "I don't think we have many of those? But we can look. Maybe over in the records of Nogrod..." the scribe mumbled to themself as they wandered away, and Dwalin followed. "Try this," the scribe decided, shuffling through heavy tomes and handing one to Dwalin. "Go claim a desk, I'll bring you anything else I find." For all they were so small the scribe had a firm tone when giving orders. Dwalin suppressed the sudden urge to tousle their hair the way she might have Fili or Kili's at that age. She nodded her thanks and took the tome to a desk.

The little apprentice scribe and recordkeeper was good at their work, better than Dwalin would have expected. She soon had a small stack of books to look through, with promising passages marked for her already with scraps of worn ribbon. The scribe even brought her a sheet of scraped vellum and some ink to make notes when she asked.

"What's your name?" Dwalin asked.

"Ori, at your service," the scribe bowed.

"Dwalin, at yours," Dwalin answered, giving them a sharper look. Ri was a common enough name, but she could not help but wonder if Ori might be the younger sibling Nori was so committed to protecting. They had a nose a lot like Nori's, and Nori was also built small, but that didn't prove anything. Ori was less pale than Nori, and didn't have the same sort of extravagant hair, but that could vary in a family. Dwalin herself had taken after her father, while Balin got all of their mother's beautiful blue hair.

Dwalin abandoned that fruitless line of thought and settled in to work. She jotted down notes and citations as she read, keeping track of her research and her thoughts. Warrior she might be, but she'd been trained a scholar too in Erebor's finest traditions. She had no scribe's hand, but her writing was legible. It was no scholarly paper she composed, just a short treatise. It was not likely she'd ever write it up as more than just a note to herself.

There were not many records to go by, but Dwalin found a few stories that served her purpose. Olgr who was known for troll hunting long before he picked up the protector. Darri who was well known as a caravan guard, undefeated by any beast or brigand, before sie found the protector. Rekkr who as a young princess refused the service of any guard she could defeat – and so went unguarded, decades before she came across the protector. Rekkr whose personal warband went into battle with their hair already in funeral braids, ready for death. They were famous for throwing themselves into battles that could not be won – and winning – before Rekkr was the protector.

_"Orcs tremble at the sound of her trumpet, and her allies redouble their efforts when they see her flag. There is no battle she will not join, no enemy she will not form an alliance with against the Orcs and Mordor; for she is the most fierce and reckless of warriors."_

It was written before Rekkr was protector, when she fought with normal weapons still. The massive double-bit war axe with a ruby like a fist of blood at its heart came later. The stories went that Rekkr won her battles on the strength of that axe, but that contradicted the record.

Dwalin carefully wrote down the last citation, author, book, page, and paragraph. She took a deep breath before she jotted down her closing thoughts – what she'd realized herself, and come to confirm.

"No protector of record has been made greater by the acquisition of the protector. It is a good weapon, nothing more."

"No weapon is stronger than the hand that wields it."

Dwalin carefully set her quill down and closed the last book. She should have looked closer before, and not let the legends and ballads sway her. If she'd picked the protector up, it would not have given her what she needed. Dwalin looked down at her hands, broad and tattooed and scarred, and dotted with ink. She would never have more than their strength. Dwalin slipped her knuckledusters on over them, familiar weight, familiar rattle of chains, familiar leather formed to the shape of her hands and wrists.

This was all she would ever have, all she would ever be.

"You're all done?" Ori asked, smiling at her as they straightened her discarded stack of books. "Can I see?"

"It's not much," Dwalin said, but she handed the page over.

Ori's eyes skimmed over it quickly, with every sign of enjoyment as they read, small sounds of surprise or agreement as they went. "Can I write this up for you?" Ori asked when they were done, light brown eyes shining. "I have a very clear hand, I can show you examples of my work!"

"I wasn't going to write it up," Dwalin waved it off. "It's just scribbles."

"Oh, but you should, it's brilliant!" Ori protested, "And much more legible than some stuff I've written up. There are so few new papers coming from Erebor scholars, and I think the library _should_ have a copy of this..." they wheedled, big eyes begging.

"If you like," Dwalin shrugged. "What are your rates, then?"

"Oh, I wasn't going to charge. I'm just an apprentice, and I just love the legends of the protector..." Ori squirmed slightly.

"I can spare the coin. How much?" Dwalin repeated, and Ori finally gave her a price. It was low, and she added another silver on top. "For your help with the research," she justified, when Ori would have protested. Ori thanked her and began happily setting up the desk to write her scribbles up into something pretty.

"Are you related to a Dwarf named Nori?" Dwalin asked.

"Who isn't?" Ori laughed. "It's a common name, everyone is if you can trace your ancestors back far enough. I'll have this written up for you in just a few hours. Will you wait, or have a runner take it to you?"

"I'll come for it tomorrow," Dwalin decided. She wanted to get home. Balin was finally back from his latest travels, and she'd like to visit with him. Dwalin left Ori carefully writing up their rough draft – writing out the quotes she'd only made citations of. She was halfway home before she realized Ori hadn't actually _told_ her if they were or weren't related to Nori.

 .

Nori squirmed through the cracks in the rocks.

Squirmed _her_ way through the cracks? 

Maybe. Nori felt a little silly trying what she felt like being a dam, but there was no way to know which tool worked best if he didn't try...

Damn it, he'd slipped back into male again.

Nori took a deep breath of cool dusty air and tried again. This had been easier at the last inn she'd visited. She hadn't quite made the prices she might have gotten in Ered Luin, but Nori'd made good enough money she'd justified spending the coin for a hot bath. She'd tied her hair up neatly on the top of her head, the way Dori would hers, and luxuriated in the hot water. It had been easy then to touch her body, explore each part and name it feminine. _Her_ beard, so thick and soft and smooth. _Her_ sturdy arms and shoulders. _Her_ strong and clever hands. _Her_ breasts, a fine soft handful to cup and admire. Nori's chest was not the flat muscles of a Man, nor the overflowing hairless abundance that tended to characterize a woman's breasts, from what little Nori had seen of them. Nori was a Dwarf. Her chest bore a light pelt of red hair, and there were strong muscles beneath her breasts.

Nori had never taken much time to think about it before. Nori's chest existed, and a lover's attentions could feel good there, but there in the bath Nori fell in love with having breasts. They were soft and pretty, an indulgence of her body, all her own. She'd wished then for a lover to admire them with her – rub their cheeks against them and suck her perky pink nipples into points of pleasure. Nori had no lover then, though. She'd admired them herself, and moved on. Her strong and flexible back, her belly, her legs and thighs, finally her sex. Nori had liked the way it sounded in Dwalin's mouth when she'd named her own; a word that was strong and good, one no alley drunkard had ever screamed at a woman who ignored him. Nori liked forge too, it spoke of heat and the pleasure of craft – and Nori used hers for the craft of her pleasure. Gem Nori was less sure of. It was too small, too _cute_ , even if Dwalin had managed to make hers sound grand and powerful with the same word. Maybe it was that Nori'd never had a gem without selling it, and this was not something Nori was interested in selling. Still, Nori had admired herself in the bath until it began to turn to cold, and then lay in the crisp sheets on a soft bed and stroked herself to climax.

Seeing the femininity in herself, seeing herself as a dam, had been easy there. It was not so easy here hunting through ruins. Nori knew dams who were ruin hunters, and Dwalin was more than proof enough that a dam didn't have to have any delicacy at all, but trying to be one here felt as out of place as a tea party in a mine shaft.

Maybe being a dam was not right for Nori after all. Nori breathed deep, remaining calm. It was just a tool, even if 'she' was not the right tool for Nori. There was no way to know without trying. Nori had tried the genderless forms on, and found they were not right at all. There was a blankness to them that Nori had found unsettling, as though some part of Nori would cease to exist. Nori knew genderless Dwarves, and they were solid as any Dwarf, but trying to be one felt wrong. Being genderless was not the right tool for Nori, and it was good to know that. Nori was finding things that did and did not work, just scattered bits and pieces, but maybe the little pieces would fall into place and make a tool Nori could use.

Nori crawled a little further, dragging the pack along with one foot, and stopped to rest. Nori did not allow anything but calm, despite the tightness of the place Nori's wiggled into. If Nori had gotten in, Nori could get out. A good ruins hunter didn't panic in a pinch. There was a split in the path, ahead, from what Nori could tell. One that went up and one that went down. The upper path would be harder to twist around and get into. Nori might lose a little skin. The bottom path would be easier, and Nori breathed as deeply as possible while pinched in the rock.

The air was cool. Wet. There might be water pooled ahead, and more likely below than above. Nori hauled the pack up with one foot and began the torturous process of getting to the above path. Nori paid for it in lost skin and blood, but that was the cost of ruins hunting. You'd never find anything unless you were willing to go where others wouldn't or couldn't. Nori squirmed carefully through the crack in the rock, twisting carefully through pinches and broken bits, and finally out into an open space. Nori stood on trembling legs, stretched out, and just _breathed_ for a moment. These were not ruins Nori was familiar with, so finding something other than another dead-end was a pleasant surprise.

The stone around Nori had once been carved, before it collapsed. A perfect place to start searching for treasures. Nori shuttered the lamp to a focused pinprick and began searching, sifting through rubble and checking under anything that could be moved. There wasn't much to be found, but that was to be expected. Finding a big stash was very rare. Nori was lying on the ground, peering under stuff, when the lamp's light glinted off dusty gold.

Nori couldn't get to it. It was well out of reach, and there was no way to get around the piece of stonework blocking it. Nori checked. The piece of stone did not seem to be structural in any way, it wasn't holding anything up, but Nori didn't have the leverage to shift it. Trying to snag the piece of jewelry with a pebble on a string to pull it closer didn't work. It was too heavy, too rich, and Nori whimpered, looking at it.

What Nori needed was a different tool.

Nori's hands fell to the handles of the knife.  _Ushmaru Khazâd_ , a tool that could be anything. Hadn't Dwalin said so? It had been so many different things through the ages, why shouldn't it change again?

"It's just a tool," Nori whispered, concentrating hard, eyes closed. "It's just a tool, it can be whatever you want." Nori tossed the knives away. They were not perfect. No, the most perfect tool to ever exist was one of those bongy-knockers the miners used. Playing with the magic knives was a passtime when Nori was alone, Nori knew exactly how to grab them out of empty air now. Nori did not hesitate, did not doubt. The most perfect tool to ever exist was a mining tool, and Nori grabbed it out of the air.

Nori's hand closed on a smooth wood handle, and Nori laughed aloud in shock, eyes flying open. It was a bongy-knocker, set with an amethyst the size of a fist on the mace end and smaller amethysts set around the spike end. It was beautiful, and a little ridiculous, and Nori could hardly believe it. The protector _could_ change at its holder's whim, though none of Dwalin's stories had said it could. Maybe nobody had ever tried it. Nori pressed a kiss to the big amethyst, still laughing.

"Bet you've never been one of these before, you beauty," Nori told it, and set to work levering the blocking stone away from the treasure.

Nori tucked the treasure – a pretty gold circlet – into his bag.

No.

Her bag? Still no.

Hir bag? Hm, maybe.

Nori tucked the circlet into hir bag and tossed the bongy-knocker away to grab the knives out of the air. Sie laughed again at that. The protector could be changed, it was never one thing or another – not for Nori. And maybe Nori wasn't either. Maybe sie was a blend of masculine and feminine, not purely one or another.

Maybe. Nori grinned and squirmed into another passage to keep searching for more lost treasures. It was something to try, at least.

If it turned out to be the wrong tool, Nori could always try another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dwarven genders headcanons time!  
> Dwarf genders come in 5 basic flavors. male and female get he and she. agender Dwarves like Fili get e/em/er pronouns. blended is a bit of a catch-all gender, where you'll find Dwarves who are somewhere in the middle of the m/f/a poles, like what Nori seems to be leaning toward here. blended Dwarves get sie/hir/hirs pronouns. and little babies like Ori who aren't choosing yet get 'they' pronouns.  
> (if that's confusing, here's something similar in visual format)  
> http://khaoskomix.tumblr.com/image/115295922747


	6. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fluffy chapter  
> also smutty

It felt good to go home.

Some people were still looking for the protector, though most had given up. They were never going to look to Nori for it, not even if they saw the knives. Nori had spent long hours practicing on hir own, figuring out the best disguise for them. Nori only had to focus _very hard_ just as sie was changing which tool to grab from nothing. Once the protector had manifested as a shape, it stayed that way unless Nori changed it. No one would look twice at the worn old knives on Nori's belt. Their handles were decorated with a little gold plate that had mostly rubbed away, and purple glass fake jewels – some of which were missing, and several others cracked and chipped and sanded down smooth. The blades themselves remained excellent, but unmarked as the protector.

With these blades on hir belt Nori could finally go home, and that felt wonderful. Nori saw Ori first when sie got into Ered Luin, shopping in the market before heading home from their apprenticeship. Nori had just sold all hir ruins findings at a good price, and slid in beside Ori to pay for their purchases ahead of them. Ori nearly jumped out of their skin before squealing and pouncing on Nori to hug nearly hard enough to bruise hir ribs. Nori bought sweet apple fritters to share and ruin their suppers and encouraged Ori in other small naughtiness in the market and on their way home. Ori was full of stories, everything Nori had missed, and Nori soaked it all up like a sponge.

At home, the little apartments carved behind the tinker's shop, Dori hugged Nori and kissed hir forehead and cheeks while chastising hir for anything and everything. Dori gasped and pushed Nori back to take a wider look when she realized Nori wasn't only marking hirself as masculine anymore. Dori's fingers brushed Nori's adjusted braids, hir slightly altered clothes, and she smiled at Nori as though sie'd done something clever and wonderful.

"Have you chosen to be blended, then?" Dori asked.

"Dunno, maybe?" Nori shrugged. "I'm trying it, to see how it feels."

"Oh, Nori..." Dori put a hand over her mouth, eyes a little dewy. "You never got a chance, when you were the age. I'm so glad you're finally exploring. This calls for celebration." Dori turned quickly away toward the kitchen. "What sort of a dessert would you like after dinner? I've got the ingredients for that torte you love..."

"Nori bought us honey apple fritters at market!" Ori piped up.

"Nori, what _have_ I told you about spoiling your supper with sweets? And Ori's too, how could you?" Dori went right back to chastising, and Nori shared a grin with Ori.

"Don't worry, we brought some back for you," Nori said, taking them out of the top of hir pack. They were wrapped up tight in waxed paper, the honey glaze pooling in the bottom. "They're no good cold, you'd better eat them quick."

Dori stomped her boot, hands on her hips, but she did come over and take one. Her eyes crinkled nearly shut in enjoyment when she took a bite of the crisp fritter full of tart crunchy apple bits and sweet with honey glaze.

"You are not forgiven, neither of you," she warned. Nori just hugged her, cuddled up close against her strong solid back and breathed the lavender scent of Dori's hair. Ori joined them, hugging them both, and that was home. Family was home, the best and only home Nori needed.

They cooked together, and ate together – none of their suppers really ruined at all to have eaten sweets first. They cleaned up together afterward, and then Nori and Dori brushed each other's hair while they visited before bedtime. Nori told what stories sie felt comfortable with about where sie'd been while brushing Dori's hair smooth. Dori had such beautiful hair, it gleamed like silk under the comb. It would be pure mithril soon, and what a sight that would be.

Nori loved brushing Dori's hair, but being the one brushed was wonderful. Nori sighed and relaxed into it while Dori gently combed.

"Why did you pick up such tacky knives?" Dori asked, tapping one of the knife handles. "What's wrong with your regular knives, that you had to replace them with _these_?"

Nori grinned. They were _perfect_ , if Dori disliked them. Dori had excellent taste. Nori wasn't going to tell either of them about the protector. It was dangerous, and more dangerous the more people knew. Dori might let something slip while chatting with customers, or Ori to another apprentice, it could get into the wrong ears. They shouldn't know. "I like them. Purple, that's our family color isn't it?"

"Our family's stone is _amethyst_ , not shoddy cut glass," Dori sniffed. "Really, are you going to walk around with these on your belt?"

"I like the blades," Nori said, and drew one to show both siblings. Dori hummed thoughtfully as she took it, minutely inspecting the metal. Dori had a good eye for all types of craftwork. If anyone was going to catch the knife as being the protector in this disguise, she would.

"That is a good blade," Dori finally admitted. "If only the handles were better."

"At the price they went, I couldn't exactly refuse," Nori said, as Ori took the blade to admire it as well. Nori took the knife back and placed it in the sheath, and Ori leaned against Nori's thigh. Nori stroked Ori's hair, soft and gentle as Dori continued combing.

"Have you heard about the classes?" Ori asked. At Nori head shake they continued, eyes shining. "Khuzdul classes! They happen twice a week, I think you should go!"

Nori laughed briefly, fighting a souring stomach at the thought. "Classes are for children," Nori reminded. "I do alright without."

"Adults-only classes," Dori clarified. "I've heard very good things from a few others of your generation. Lots of people are going. Lady Dis is sponsoring it, so it's all free."

"...I'll see about it," Nori conceded. Nori'd have to ask around first, talk to other surface-born Dwarves and see how it really was before committing to anything. If the teachers weren't condescending, and it really _wasn't_ full of little children who were already better than Nori would ever be...

Maybe it would be nice to be a little better at Khuzdul, even if Nori was never going to be fluent.

Dori set the comb down and massaged Nori's scalp, strong fingertips pressing in little circles, and Nori couldn't help groaning.

"How do you want your hair?" Dori asked, and Nori pondered that deeply. What would feel right, now?

"How would you like to have a sister for an evening?" Nori asked, grinning over her shoulder at Dori.

Dori pressed her lips together to try to suppress her answering smile. "No more than I'd like any other type of sibling," she answered, stroking Nori's hair. "You want me to make it feminine?"

"Just to see how I feel," Nori nodded, turning face front again. "Make it beautiful."

"It would be hard work to make _this_ hair anything else," Dori pointed out. She hummed an old tune, one their mother used to sing to them, as she began dividing Nori's hair into sections to style it.

Nori hummed along and stroked Ori's head where they rested it against her leg, and relaxed into Dori's happy grooming.

She'd been away from home far too long.

 

Dwalin was surprised to see Nori in Ered Luin. She'd only just returned from Dunland, escorting some merchants trading silverwork for furs, and more than half there to keep an eye on Kili. It was the young princess' first job doing guard work, but Kili had more than proved herself as a sharp eye hunting with her bow, and fearless in a fight, though they'd thankfully not seen much action. No more than a show of strength would repel. It was a lucrative run, and Dwalin had the feeling it would not be the last time the were hired to guard the route.

Dwalin had a purse full with a comfortable little bonus, and was glad to be back in the relative comfort of Ered Luin. She had not expected to see Nori in a Dwarven settlement, not while trying to hide the protector, but there was no mistaking that hair. Nori was with a small group of Dwarves, their hands flashing in basic iglishmek sign as they chanted the corresponding words, going faster and faster until they could not keep up and broke away laughing. It was a children's game, or had been in Erebor. Dwalin could remember playing it, remember seeing groups of children playing it. She hadn't seen it, or thought about it, in years. There were a dozen different chants, teaching basic vocabulary and concepts. Dwalin knew Lady Dis had chosen to sponsor adult Khuzdul classes, as part of their strategy to do well by the surface-born, but she hadn't hoped to see Nori actually taking part. Thorin's piece was encouraging various caravans and traders to hire surface-born Dwarves who were comfortable around draft animals and familiar with the ways of Men. Dwalin had expected that would benefit Nori most, but becoming more fluent in Khuzdul would help _any_ surface-born Dwarf find a place for themself among other Dwarves.

A winner finally emerged from Nori's group of Dwarves, and the rest all paid them in small coin and friendly insults. Making it a gambling game was one way to get grown Dwarves interested. Nori broke off from the group, abandoning them to go to the little apprentice scribe from the library. Ori. Nori looked a little different, clothes and hair no longer marking only male. Sie'd chosen another tool, then. Nori's shirts were also open more at the throat to show off a touch of red pelt, re-tailored or just adjusted to draw attention to the softness of hir chest. It was a good look, to Dwalin's eyes.

Dwalin would have gone over to say hello, but she was not sure how welcome she would be. A lover taken in the wilds was not always the kind one wanted in the town, and Nori had been very protective of family. Dwalin looked long enough, trying to decide, that Nori noticed.

"Dwalin," Nori greeted, smiling. Sie took a few eager steps toward Dwalin, and Dwalin closed the rest of the distance. They both hesitated slightly before Dwalin took the initiative to wrap her arms around Nori and bump foreheads with hir. Not a mighty crack like she might with another warrior, but hard enough to appreciate each other's strength. They held each other there for a moment, just sharing breath with Nori's bright hazel eyes smiling up into Dwalin's. Nori looked good, looked _happy_ ; not scared like sie'd been so often in the wilds.

Nori felt good to hold, Dwalin wouldn't mind pulling their bodies closer together and kissing hir soft pink lips, but this was not the time or place for that. It would not answer any of Dwalin's questions about Nori and the protector. Instead Dwalin stepped back, though her hands were less quick at letting Nori go. They wanted to touch more, and Nori's seemed to have a similar idea. They drew apart slowly, like they were stuck together with syrup. Oh, there was still fire to work with here, their attraction had not grown cold while they were parted.

"You look good. You're blended, then?" Dwalin asked, looking Nori up and down.

"I'm trying it out, since I didn't have the chance when I was young." Nori's answer had the fluidity of repetition, this was something sie was used to saying. Not many Dwarves were exploring at Nori's age, but then no Dwarf should ever have been forced into a gender. Dwalin would meet anyone who thought Nori shouldn't with her knuckledusters.

Dwalin's eyes fell to Nori's knives, and she recognized them. They were decorated in the same patterns, but these could not be _Ushmaru Khazâd_. Worn old cut-glass replaced the flawless amethysts that should have adorned it, flaked gold plate where it should have been solid gold decoration.

"We'll talk, later?" Nori had noticed where her attention was, and hir smile faded slightly into worry. Nori's eyes flicked toward Ori and back, begging understanding.

"Later," Dwalin agreed, and Nori relaxed again. Had Nori not even told hir family, then?

"This is Ori, my younger sibling," Nori finally introduced. "Ori, Dwalin and I traveled together for a while on my last trip."

"Everyone's related to a Nori?" Dwalin asked Ori, teasing.

"I didn't know you were _friends_ ," Ori protested, ducking down into their scarf to hide.

"You've met?" Nori looked back and forth between them.

"Ori helped with my research at the library, and wrote up my findings," Dwalin explained. "They have a fine hand." The paper had turned out beautifully, very professional, not that either Dwalin or Thorin were happy with Dwalin's conclusion. It was the inescapable reality, though.

"It was such a wonderful paper," Ori gushed, turning toward Nori. "About the history of the protector. _Ushmaru Khazâd_ , I love the old stories, do you know them? Dwalin's descriptions were so clear, you'd almost think she'd actually _held_ it..." Ori glanced toward Dwalin and broke off, flushing. Did the little scribe think _she_ was the one who had it? "But I didn't know you were friends, when she asked. Not everyone likes Nori, you know, because, um..." Ori had addressed Dwalin again, but broke off uncomfortably.

"Dwalin knows what I do," Nori reassured Ori quietly.

"Aye, that I do," Dwalin agreed. She needed to make no allusions to the things Nori did, beyond a small smile and an affectionate brush of her hand across Nori's shoulder. Pleasurable things. Things Dwalin hoped Nori might want to do again, or better now Dwalin had access to more of her favorite toys. Nori was always quick to catch on. Sie flushed slightly and licked hir lips, shifting closer to Dwalin, anything but reluctant. Not that they could do anything with Ori standing right there, all innocence and big eyes.

"You haven't been in Ered Luin these past months, where have you been?" Nori changed the topic of conversation. Hir nimble fingers stroked lightly down Dwalin's forearm, briefly teased at the tender inside of her wrist beneath the strap of her knuckleduster. It was unfair how innocent it would look, just a little flirtatious, but Nori knew exactly how the touch would affect her.

"Dunland, guarding silver merchants," Dwalin answered, voice gruff as her body swayed closer to Nori. Damn, there had to be some way to get Nori alone to talk – not that they'd likely get any real talking done until they'd burned off some of the heat between them. Dwalin had opened her mouth to invite Nori for a drink, for a bite to eat, a walk, _anything_ , when they were interrupted.

" _There_ you are, didn't I tell you to meet me at the bakers?" A Dwarf bustled up to them with groceries in her arms. She was round and solid, heavy-silvered hair in immaculate braids. She was a true Dwarven beauty, and looked far more like a noblewoman of Erebor than Dwalin ever would. "I'm Dori..." she introduced herself, leaving an expectant space at the end for Dwalin's name.

"Dwalin daughter of Fundin, at your service," Dwalin introduced with a bow. Something about Dori's manner made Dwalin feel she had to answer at her politest, as though her old etiquette instructors were watching. She had to bite her tongue to keep in the rest of her lineage, noble on both stiffbeard and longbeard lines and close to the line of Durin. This was a casual meeting in the market, not posturing at some courtly event.

"And our house at yours," Dori accepted. Her eyes were far too shrewd, noting Dwalin's physical proximity to Nori, the way their bodies naturally leaned in toward each other. She smiled. "We're just heading home for dinner, do us the honor of joining us?"

Dwalin looked to Nori, hoping sie'd have a good excuse, but there was no help from that quarter.

"You don't want to miss Dori's game stew, it's been simmering on the back of the stove all day," Nori invited. Sie was laughing at Dwalin, damn hir, Dwalin could see it dancing in hir eyes. Dwalin didn't have any commitments this evening, Balin was not even home to expect her to be. Sticking close to Nori would be the fastest way to get the answers she wanted, frustrating as that was likely to be.

"The honor would be all mine," Dwalin gave in. She hooked her thumbs behind her belt buckle and followed along. Nori and hir siblings were a tightly knit family. Dori fussed, and Nori teased, and Ori was happy between them. Their love and care for each other was obvious. Seeing Nori like this with hir family, Dwalin could understand how Nori's thoughts had been pure desire to protect them when Nori ran across the protector. That only raised the question of what had become of the knives, though, and Dwalin could not ask clarification in front of the family Nori obviously had not told.

Dwalin saw her opportunity in the little cloakroom between Dori's tinker shop and the home beyond. She hung back behind everyone, waited for Dori and Ori to go ahead, and dragged Nori back before sie could follow them. Not that she had to _drag_ hir, particularly. Nori came easy, wormed hir way right into Dwalin's arms, body pressed tight against hers, bright hazel eyes shining. Dwalin pulled Nori closer, gorgeous little Dwarf so good to squeeze, nuzzled against hir neck to breathe the scent of hir skin.

"The knives?" Dwalin breathed against Nori's ear.

"They're what I want them to be," Nori whispered back. Sie leaned back slightly, one hand cupping the side of Dwalin's face, fingers in her beard. Nori's breath was warm against Dwalin's lips, and she closed the rest of the distance to kiss hir. Nori's mouth was honey-sweet and hot, hungry against hers, and Dwalin groaned her approval.

"Come along, Nori!" Dori called from further in the building. "The bread will get cold!"

Dwalin pulled away from Nori reluctantly, and followed hir into the house. It was a small set of apartments, simple, but clean and neat and comfortable. There was warmth around the table where they sat, and the stew was very good. It was surprisingly rich with spices, and sweetened with raisins. The meat in it was sparse, but tender and flavorful. Dwalin gathered, while she ate, that Nori was the one who had provided both spices and meat. The one possibly stolen, the other certainly poached.

It was a good meal, in good company, and less awkward than it could have been made. Everyone seemed determined to be pleasant. Ori talked about their apprenticeship, and Dori about various repairs the shop had been commissioned for – discussing what Nori could manage on hir own and what Dori's expertise or strength was needed for. Dwalin briefly talked about a few recent caravans she'd guarded, a few scuffles she'd been in. The only awkward thing was that Nori flirted with Dwalin any time hir siblings did not seem to be watching. Dwalin was more than willing to be flirted with, but her blood was already hot and she could not _do_ anything here in front of Dori and Ori. They all sucked the meat from the little bones in the stew and discarded them, but Nori turned that process absolutely indecent.

Nori discarded hir last bone and set to sucking hir fingertips clean, eyes never breaking from Dwalin's as hir lips tongue teased around each slender digit. Dwalin's throat squeezed closed, utterly unable to swallow her last bite of bread. Her sex clenched in want, hot and wet between her legs. It was all she could do not to moan, or drag Nori out of sight to do unspeakably delicious things to hir. Or both. Both sounded good.

Thankfully that ended abruptly, with the distinct thud of a kick under the table. Nori winced and turned a pained look on hir sister.

"Well, that was a lovely meal," Dori commented, very primly patting her lips with her napkin. "Thank you so much for your company Dwalin. Could I impose on you to help Ori carry the dishes into the kitchen before you go?"

Dwalin finally managed to swallow her last bite of bread. "Aye," she agreed. She could tell when she was being gotten rid of, and there was no reason not to be polite to Dori who'd been nothing but polite to her. The dishes were quickly gathered up between all of them, and Dwalin carried two stacks and followed Ori to the kitchen. Ori dithered a bit about where to have Dwalin put them, and then offered to make her a cup of tea before she went, but Dwalin turned them down. She was back in time to hear the tail end of Dori and Nori's quiet conversation.

"…don't worry," Nori said, soothingly.

"No, I will worry! You especially _need_ to be careful!" Dori contradicted. "Promise me you've at least got a sheath?"

"Dori," Nori held Dori's face cupped between hir hands when Dwalin came around the corner. Neither of them seemed to notice her. "We haven't got the parts between us to make a baby."

"I'd not spread my seed where it was unwanted, if we did," Dwalin added. Nori had the grace to look a little embarrassed that their conversation had been heard as sie dropped hir hands. Dori did not. "I would not shame my line with unclaimed byblows."

"We can only hope," Dori answered archly, chin held high. "But our family knows more than some that hope does nothing for a swollen belly."

Dwalin did not fuck in ways that could result in pregnancy, but she'd always known that any child she bore would be of her family and the line of Durin. Having a second parent of noble lineage to claim the child with her would be preferred, but any child she bore would be of her noble lines either way. It would be different and more difficult for a family of commoners, especially if the sire in question were noble. Nori's siblings were all very different, for all their similarities. They might all share one parent, but Dwalin doubted any of them shared two. Nori was the palest, and Dori as brown as the line of Durin. Oh. Dori _looked_ like the line of Durin, like the most beautiful noblewomen of their line.

"But no matter," Dori softened. She patted Dwalin's arm on her way toward the kitchen. "I hope you enjoy your evening, Nori will see you home. It was a pleasure to have you, do visit us again."

"The pleasure was mine," Dwalin managed to remember the polite words, though a little late to have been properly polite.

Nori led Dwalin back out, turning back to grin at her once they were outside Dori and Ori's hearing. "We'll see about your pleasure," Nori breathed, dark promises in hir eyes. "I can't wait to have you in me..." Dwalin grabbed ahold of hir, growling her approval when sie arched back to rub hir arse against Dwalin's groin. Dwalin pushed against Nori as though she had a hammer to fuck hir with, and Nori's breath caught. Dwalin nipped at the side of hir neck to make Nori shudder in her arms. Oh, Nori was going to be _fun_ to play with again.

"And yours," Dwalin whispered her own promise against Nori's skin. "My brother is not home. Come on."

They made it out of the house and the tinker's shop without getting overly distracted, and then they were in public and could be too improper. Though there were a few dark quiet alleys that were surprisingly tempting.

"Being blended, it suits you," Dwalin said, to have a topic of conversation. Something else to focus on than wanting to get her hands and mouth on Nori. That or the protector. She still needed to ask about that, but in public was not the place for that either.

"Mmm, I think so!" Nori agreed. Sie stretched up, smiling, and dropped hir hands behind hir head. Nori's body was arched forward for it, stretched out and showing off hir chest. "Being a dam usually feels... too much. Overdone? And being male is alright, it's comfortable, but it's not everything. Or not everything all the time. Sometimes it's all I want. Other times I'm more. Does that make sense?"

Being different things at different times sounded exhausting to Dwalin, but Nori was not her. "If that's what you are," Dwalin said with a shrug. She put an arm around Nori as they walked, and sie dropped hir arms and leaned into her.

"I _think_ that's what I am," Nori said. "We'll see if it changes." Dwalin have hir a squeeze for it. It was good to see Nori happier, more certain of hirself as a Dwarf. Their conversation ended, but they walked together companionably toward Dwalin's home.

Nori stopped when Dwalin turned them to go down Spessartine street. Hir shoulders hunched in, and Dwalin let hir go, not pushing.

"Nori?" she asked. Sie'd shown every sign of eagerness until now.

"You'd probably rather get a room at an inn," Nori said in a rush, eyes skittering over the street and then down to hir boots.

"No. Why?" Dwalin asked. She had her bed, her privacy, her toys all at home. She did not want to buy an inn room.

"I'm..." Nori looked back up at the street and swallowed hard. "I'm a thief, Dwalin. When I walk down streets like that, I can see exactly how to get in and out. I don't." Nori shook hir head and took a step back. "You won't want me in your house if it's..." Nori gestured to Spessartine street.

 _Spessartine_ street, that could not dream of holding a candle to the jewel-named high streets of Erebor.

"Are you going to steal from me?" Dwalin asked, low and quiet just to Nori, though none of the few Dwarves on the street were interested in their conversation.

"No!" Nori protested.

"You often steal in Ered Luin?" Dwalin asked.

"Never," Nori shook hir head. "Never from Dwarves. I leave if I want to too bad, always." That's what sie'd told her out in the wilds too. Nori was a thief if necessary, but never from Dwarves – not living ones anyway.

"Then I'll trust you," Dwalin decided, stepping in close, face just above Nori's and eyes never leaving hirs. "I'll take you home, where we'll be alone, where you can cry out sweet as you like with no one to hear. Where I have my bed, where I have my toys, where I'll fuck you so you won't know your _name_ much less how to steal."

Nori whimpered slightly, pupils widening with want as Dwalin spoke.

"That's just houses, like any others." Dwalin gestured down the street. "You don't have to steal because you know how. You want me? Come on." She stepped back abruptly, before Nori could lean up and kiss her. She set off down the street, and Nori was right beside her, eyes on nothing but her. Dwalin let them into her and Balin's house, and locked the door behind them. Her house was comfortable enough, but not all that rich. There were no heirlooms to steal. Dwalin did not have time to give a tour before Nori was on her, kissing hot and desperate, hands everywhere. Dwalin backed hir against the wall and thoroughly kissed hir, finally letting her own hands roam. She squeezed Nori's arse, wedged her thigh between Nori's legs and ground their bodies together as she slid her hand up to finally palm the softness of hir chest. Nori pushed into it all with a hungry whine, fingers plucking at Dwalin's buckles to get them undone.

"You'll be alright here?" Dwalin asked, when they briefly broke apart. She wanted Nori here, in her own home, but not if Nori didn't want to be.

"Mhm," Nori agreed, nails digging into her neck as sie tried to pull her down to kiss again. Dwalin all but carried Nori to her room. Balin wasn't going to be home, but that was no excuse to fuck in the hallway when the bed was _right there_.

"Ooh," Nori was briefly distracted by admiring Dwalin's nice big bed. She took the opportunity to start getting out of her clothes. Nori began doing the same.

"The knives?" Dwalin asked, eyes falling to them again as Nori set them aside.

"These?" Nori asked, plucking them out of thin air. They were no longer in the sheaths, sie'd learned how to call them intentionally! Nori grinned at Dwalin's surprise, and tossed the knives over hir shoulders. They did not hit the bed, or the floor. They had ceased to be. "I told you, they're what I want them to be." Nori plucked them out of the air again, only this time they were the ornate blades Dwalin remembered. "Don't even have to be knives." Nori tossed them aside and grabbed a polearm out of nothing. It wasn't a polearm, it was a _mining_ tool, but decorated with amethysts, one like a fist replacing the mace end. It was beautiful and ridiculous, it would not be usable – but it would be. It was _Ushmaru Khazâd_ , what could damage it?

"How?" Dwalin asked, dazed. It could change its form for every new wielder, but no one had ever said it could take multiple forms for a single user.

"It's the perfect weapon, the perfect tool," Nori explained, preening slightly. "You just have to change what you believe that is." Nori tossed the jeweled polearm aside and grabbed the worn old knives out of the air again. Sie tucked them carefully back into their sheaths. "Like this, no one looks twice. I can come home and no one will guess."

"Clever," Dwalin praised. Trust Nori to have a mind twisty enough to figure that out, and be able to use it. Dwalin wouldn't. The perfect weapon for her was a set of axes, she knew that too well. Nori gave the knives an affectionate pat and continued undressing, baring hir pale skin to Dwalin's appreciative eyes. Dwalin did the same, and Nori licked hir lips as sie eyed her up and down. It was nice to be so obviously desired.

"I've got better words now," Nori said, tossing the last piece of hir clothing away.

"Aye?" Dwalin asked, stalking forward to back Nori against the bed.

"Mhm," Nori perched on the end of the bed, ran hir hands teasingly up hir body to cup the softness of hir chest. " _My breasts_ ," Nori named in khuzdul, with the feminine ending. Sie briefly pinched hir little pink nipples, already pebbled up, displaying them to Dwalin.

If that was invitation, Dwalin was taking it. " _Beautiful breasts_ ," Dwalin whispered, hands taking over from Nori's. Nori moaned at the touch of her fingers, and Dwalin leaned Nori back further to take over with her mouth – rub her cheeks and nose against Nori's lovely little breasts and lightly suck hir nipples. " _Perfect breasts_." Nori's hands stroked Dwalin's head and shoulders, encouraging, while hir legs closed around Dwalin to pull her closer.

" _Anything else_?" Dwalin asked. She kissed each breast one last time and leaned back to let Nori talk when sie nodded.

 _"My sex_ ," Nori used the gender neutral ending here. Sie rubbed hir fingers through the waiting slickness, showing it off. " _My forge_ ," again the neutral ending as Nori barely pressed two fingertips inside hirself. Nori slid hir fingers upward, spread them to leave the proud bud exposed. "My cock," Nori named in westron, grinning. Sie rubbed it lightly and moaned.

"Cock, is it?" Dwalin licked her fingers and pressed Nori's out of the way to rub hir cock herself. Nori moaned, legs spreading wider, body arching up toward Dwalin's. Dwalin kissed Nori's mouth, bit and sucked hir neck, wandered down to hir breasts and back up to hir hungry mouth. She stroked Nori's sweet little cock to make hir body tense and tremble, slid her fingers down further into the tight wet heat of hir forge and return slipperier for Nori's pleasure. Dwalin let her slick fingers wander further down, past the welcome of Nori's forge. Nori had a fondness for Dwalin's fingers, wherever she liked to put them. Nori seemed to climax harder and faster with a little play in the back.

"And this?" Dwalin asked, pressing lightly against the tight muscle of Nori's entrance. Nori moaned lower, trembling, but did not spread wider or bear down to try to take Dwalin in.

"Still an arse," Nori answered breathlessly.

"Should I fuck you there?" Dwalin offered.

"With _your_ big hammer?" Nori snorted in disbelief.

"I have done," Dwalin assured Nori. "I have time, and patience, and so many toys." Nori whimpered, unconsciously pushing against her fingers as if to take them in immediately, but held hirself back, tightening up and shifting away. Dwalin moved her fingers away from Nori's arse. "Only if you like," Dwalin reminded. If Nori didn't want, then sie didn't want. There were many other things Dwalin liked just as well.

"It's just that I'm not..." Nori's face flushed bright red, turning slightly away from Dwalin in embarrassment. "I won't be clean?"

"Washroom's through there," Dwalin indicated with a turn of her head in the direction of the room. "If you want to clean up. Or we can do other things." That was just to be expected with that type of sex, nothing to be embarrassed of.

Nori kissed her, warm and affectionate, as sie considered. "I will," Nori decided. "I like being fucked there, sometimes."

"I'll make it good," Dwalin promised.

" _Everything's_ good with you," Nori said, and that was always pleasing to hear. Dwalin grabbed hir hand to give the tour of the washroom that adjoined both her own and Balin's rooms.

"Necessaries," Dwalin gestured to them, "Warm water, wash cloths," she gestured to the sink. The mostly automated boiler for hot water was the best part, along with the big tub. Dwalin turned the boiler up while she was there, so there'd be plenty of hot water for a bath after. Mechanisms clanked and ground as it fed more coal into the fire to heat up.

Dwalin filled a small basin with hot water and left Nori alone to take care of what sie needed to, and finally got her box of toys out of their drawer under the bed. There were so many options. Dwalin set a little pot of slick salve on the bedside table in easy reach, and chose a pretty set of six carved quartz toys of increasing size to open Nori. The first tapered plug was smaller than Dwalin's thumb, the largest thicker than her hammer at the bulge before the flared base that would hold it in place. She put them in the basin of hot water to warm up for Nori. She doubted she or Nori would want the entire set, but they were good to have on hand. She considered strapping her hammer to her thigh, but then her eyes fell to the aventurine glass cock. She grinned as she picked it up, caressing the heavy bulbed end. It was beautiful dark brown glass, with bright flecks of copper suspended throughout. Goldstone, Men called it, as though it were either gold or stone. She'd picked it up in a journey south, to the Dwarves of the sand who were unmatched in glass work. It was not _her hammer_ the way the leather one was, but it was very fun. The cock end was also more slender, which Nori might appreciate.

Dwalin quickly slicked the bulb end with a little salve and seated it within her forge. It nestled perfectly within her, just the right amount of pressure against her gem – she'd been measured for it, and the Dwarf who'd made it was a true artist of the craft. The cool glass warmed quickly in her body, and Dwalin put a leather harness on over it – buckled snug around her hips and thighs to help hold it in place once she was fucking. She rocked her hips, rubbing the cock against her hand, inside herself, and moaned in anticipation.

Nori came out of the washroom bare and grinning, and they were on each other. Dwalin tossed Nori onto the bed and followed to search for Nori's pleasure. Nori gasped when hir clever fingers discovered that the glass cock went inside Dwalin, and took to stroking it, moving it inside her to feed her pleasure. Dwalin got her fingers inside Nori, hir mouth, hir forge, and finally hir arse, messy with salve. Nori squirmed and fucked hirself on Dwalin's fingers, moaning shamelessly.

Dwalin flipped Nori face-down in the blankets, up on hir knees and spread open for her, when she was ready to begin using the set of plugs. Her fingers had done the work of the smallest, so she took the second to start. She worked slowly, patiently, pressing the tapered toy into Nori's arse and retreating, only to push a little further on the return. Nori's sex was dripping with want by the time Dwalin finally pressed it all the way home. She kept her thumb on it, shifting it inside Nori to make hir gasp and moan as she delved into the waiting slickness with her tongue, sliding further down to lick at Nori's cock from behind. Nori cried out, spine arching to open hirself further to Dwalin, offer her an easier angle to tend to hir cock.

Even in hir pleasure, Nori did not forget Dwalin's. Hir foot found the aventurine glass cock and pressed against it, giving Dwalin something to fuck against. She huffed an appreciative moan against Nori's sex and took full advantage. She did not stop when Nori was ready for the next sized toy, fucking slowly against hir leg while she teased it against hir arse.

Dwalin's first climax surprised her. She could have stopped rubbing the glass cock against Nori's leg when she felt the first edges of it singing in her muscles, but it felt too good. She shoved the quartz plug into Nori harder than she'd intended when it took her. Nori cried out, but only encouragement. Dwalin clung to hir as her climax shook through her body from her sex outward, a flush of liquid dampening her thighs as the pleasure peaked.

"Fuck me," Nori was begging when Dwalin could understand hir again. "Fuck me, Dwalin, please."

"You need at least one more bigger before..." Dwalin started. She'd not hurt Nori by fucking hir before sie was ready.

"Not there," Nori twisted in Dwalin's arms until sie was face up and hooked hir legs around her waist. "Fuck me in the cu– _forge_. I want you in me now!"

Dwalin could not resist such pretty begging. Nori was drenched with hir own slick, and the glass cock slid into hir to the hilt in a single slow push. Dwalin adjusted her angle so the toy did not rub her gem too hard, to give herself a moment to recover. Nori's mouth was desperate hunger beneath hers when she kissed hir. Nori reached between them, rubbing hir cock in quick little flicks of hir clever fingers. Dwalin could feel Nori's muscles tensing, tightening their hold on the glass toy as hir own peak approached. Dwalin rested on her elbow and held the nape of Nori's neck in her hand, watching hir pleasure. Nori squirmed beneath her, fucking hirself, hardly needing Dwalin's input. Dwalin stroked Nori's body, just appreciating it – hir hair and beard, the flexing strength of hir muscles, the light red pelt on hir torso. Dwalin centered finally on Nori's breasts, squeezing their softness and plucking at the nipples.

"Oh yes,  _fuck_ ," Nori gasped, and thrashed out hir climax beneath Dwalin – beautiful in hir abandon. The toy that connected them ground into Dwalin, and she was the one who cried out. Dwalin kissed Nori's cheeks and gasping mouth when sie finally collapsed beneath her. She began fucking Nori herself, slow and gentle to keep the pleasure going.

"Alright?" she asked, and Nori nodded with a soft laugh. The slow rocking of their bodies together felt good, and Dwalin adjusted her angle so the toy rubbed her gem more. The pressure and release inside her only built the pleasure.

"You're going for another." Nori grinned, eyes bright. "What can I do?"

Dwalin stretched up over Nori, arching her chest forward so her breasts were closer to hir face. Nori took the hint immediately. Sie hunched down to take a nipple in hir mouth, working the sensitive piercing with hir clever lips and tongue, and Dwalin moaned.

Dwalin had at least one more climax in her, and she knew Nori had a few as well. They had all the time and toys they wanted to chase them down.

 

Nori lay in limp against Dwalin's chest, floating in the post-sex glow and the deep warm water of the tub. Dwalin held hir close, slowly stroking hir back and side. Nothing could be better.

Nori lipped gently at the side of Dwalin's neck, the rest of hir body feeling too heavy to move. "This is good," Nori said. It was much more than good, but words were not Nori's strong point at the moment.

"Mmm," Dwalin agreed. "We should do it again some time."

"Oh yes," Nori purred, rubbing hir cheek against Dwalin's shoulder. "All the time."

"You'd like that?" Dwalin asked, big fingers rubbing lightly at the back of Nori's neck. "Being regular lovers?"

Nori managed to lift one hand enough to pet Dwalin's neck and shoulder. "So much," sie promised. Nori couldn't think of anything sie'd like more at the moment.

Dwalin chuckled and gave hir a squeeze. "Alright then," she agreed.

Nori smiled against her warm skin, and they floated together in her big tub – just enjoying each other's presence.


	7. Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which the sailing is not smooth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: for kidnapping, mutilation threats, blackmail, and violence

Of all the reasons to get in trouble, the _last_ one Nori would have imagined was because of Dwalin. Nothing but good had ever come to Nori and Nori's family because of their relationship. With Dwalin's good word, Nori had been hired on with good caravans as a tinker and jack-of-all-trades. With Dwalin's close connection to the King and the royal family, Dori's shop became known to them. They trusted her with their repair work, and they paid well. Nori's acquaintance with Balin had gotten off to an inauspicious start, with Balin banging on the washroom door to tell Dwalin to stop hogging the tub and Dwalin answering "We'll be out soon". Balin had of course wanted to meet this 'we', and Nori had been introduced with hir beard and clothes not able to completely hide the red crescents of Dwalin's teeth on hir neck. Balin had taken it with good humor, though, and Nori got along with him well enough. He'd taken an interest in Ori's studies, and his encouragement and sponsorship got Ori more opportunities than e'd otherwise have.

Nori had been casual lovers with Dwalin for decades, and nothing but good had ever come of it. They'd spoken no promises, but they were always happy when they found themselves in the same place. Some of Nori's favorite times were when they both hired on to the same caravan, evenings spent around the fire curled up against Dwalin's side, or draped across her back, or sitting between her legs leaning back against her chest and held in her strong arms.

Nori would not have imagined getting in trouble because of Dwalin. Because of Dwalin and the protector. Nori's Khuzdul was decent these days, but Nori was still surface-born and so only half a Dwarf to the eyes of some. No one would ever think Nori carried _Ushmaru Khazâd_. No one would ever think the worn but serviceable knives on the back of Nori's belt where the fabled weapon. Few were even looking for the protector, after so long. Most of the gangs had given up, though Alrek still had his people looking. Old Blue Mountain nobles made angry noises about it now and then, but there was nothing they could do. Dwalin still thought Nori ought to take the protector to Thorin, even if it was just a weapon and not the salvation of their people, but Nori didn't. Nori kept it quiet, and got on with life. It was a good life. Ori and Dori were safe and cared for, and Nori was able to get good work. Nori could be male most of the time and blended when the mood struck – usually only when sie felt safe, under the stone and among family or held warm and close in Dwalin's arms. Nori had gotten comfortable.

Nori was complacent, and he was hunted, and he was caught.

Nori ran, but by the time he'd realized he was in trouble they were too close to escape. He had left Ered Luin on his own to have a wander and do some ruins searching. He did not make it home. Against a dozen armed Dwarves he did not stand a chance. He recognized the leader as one of Alrek's people. There would be no bringing them to justice, with how closely they were allied with the old Blue Mountain nobles.

"I haven't done anything!" Nori protested, desperately. "I don't have it, whatever you're looking for! I don't have anything worth taking!" He'd already sent the bulk of his earnings home to Ered Luin.

"No," the leader agreed with a sneer as Nori was tied. "You're _worthless_ , except for what she'll do for your scrawny arse."

Nori thought they meant Dori at first, which made no sense either. Their family did alright but they were poor still. Nori was not hurt, overmuch, as they dragged him off to a hideout cave. The kidnappers did not guard their tongues. He figured out quick that 'she' meant Dwalin, and that 'it' was the protector. The very knives they'd taken from the back of Nori's belt and dumped into a basket to bring with them. Nori laughed when he pieced it together.

"You think Dwalin wields _Ushmaru Khazâd_ ," he explained when they demanded to know what was funny. "She doesn't."

"How would you know?" the leader demanded in Nori's face. "You're surface-born, you could not possibly understand what it is, what it means. Everyone knows Dwalin has it. She mocks us with her papers on it, pretending she doesn't. She has no right to carry it and keep it for herself. We're only taking back what's ours."

Nori spat in his face for it, since he was in range. It earned him nothing but a stinging backhand and a few kicks, that and the satisfaction of hearing the leader curse as he cleaned it out of his eye. Nori kept his mouth shut and just listened, after that.

Nori hadn't paid any attention to the sounds people were making about reclaiming Erebor. There were always dreamers who thought the time was right. Alrek's people seemed to think it was real this time, that they had to act and catch Dwalin before she took 'their' protector away to Erebor. They snipped and argued arguments that no one was disagreeing with – that the protector was the right of the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains. That it was what Ered Luin needed to become powerful again – as though it could unbreak the mountains and refill their long-spent mines with gold and jewels. They argued that it was wrong for the 'damn refugees' to take the protector from them. No matter that it hadn't chosen a Blue Mountain Dwarf to wield it in generations, before it chose Nori. They seemed convinced that what they were doing was right, that capturing Nori and using him as bait for Dwalin was the only thing they _could_ do.

They thought Dwalin had the protector, and she didn't, and Nori tried not to think what they would do to him when she couldn't give it to them. Even if she _had_ it, she wouldn't have been able to give it to them.

Nori was taken to a hideout cave that had been set up for the purpose. A few back rooms had been converted to cells, and Nori was shoved into one.

"What do we send to Dwalin?" One of Alrek's underlings asked, flashing hir knife all too eagerly. "An ear? A finger?"

"Not yet," the leader soothed. "An ear the third day, if she doesn't answer." He weighed Nori with his eyes. "We'll start with his hair clasps, and then all his pretty hair. You'll just be a scrawny rat without that, won't you? She might not even _want_ you back!"

Nori kicked and screamed and bit, but in the end he was only one and they were many. They left with his silver hair clasps and the click of a lock.

"Better hope she loves you," the one with the knife taunted on hir way out. Then Nori was left alone to try to figure out a way, _any_ way, to get himself out of this.

[ ](http://syntheticcathedral.tumblr.com/post/121427696795/the-protector-chapter-7-trouble-uh-oh)

. 

Dwalin was not expecting a package. It said it was from Nori, though, so she smiled as she opened it.

She blinked in confusion at Nori's hair clasps. They were unmistakable – marked with Nori's personal pattern. She'd braided them into Nori's hair enough times. Dwalin picked them up – there were hairs stuck in them, and that was strange. Why were broken red hairs caught in them?

As though the clasps had been yanked out of Nori's hair.

Dwalin's stomach was sick already by the time she noticed the note that was included.

Be at a certain place, at a certain time, or receive Nori's braids in a box next – and then ears – and then hands.

Come alone and tell no one, or forfeit Nori's life.

 .

It was a trap, an ambush, and Dwalin walked directly into it. And she was captured. She didn't even fight. She just needed to get where Nori was, and find a way out for both of them.

Dwalin started laughing and could not stop when she realized what they wanted from her. The protector, when she'd never been the one to wield it. They'd caught Nori because they wanted _her_ to give the protector to them.

When the knives were _right there_ in the pile of Nori's belongings they'd poured out of a basket to prove they really had caught Nori.

Dwalin nearly bit off a finger on the hand that smacked her across the face to try and get her to stop laughing. The blood on her face was not her own when she was shoved into a makeshift cell. Dwalin roared and flung herself at the bars, kicked at the door – but rough as the cell was it was still Dwarven architecture. It would take a lot of bashing to break it down, and she was not sure her shoulders were up to it. If she had a hammer, she'd smash her way out in an instant.

"Dwalin?" Nori's voice was small, eyes wide and frightened watching her from a cell across from hers. His hair was messy, tied with bits of string. There was the shadow of a bruise on his cheekbone.

"Nori!" Dwalin flung herself at the bars again, shoving at them with all her strength. They creaked, but did not give. "Are you hurt? If they've hurt you I'll..." She threw herself at the bars a third time with a full battle cry.

"I'm alright," Nori assured her. "Just bruised. Why are you here?"

Dwalin slammed the sides of her fists against the bars, glared across at Nori. "Because they threatened you like _cowardly orc-spawn_!" Dwalin finished roaring toward the closed door to the main cave, so they would know how highly she thought of them. She gave the door another three good kicks too, blood hot and pounding in her ears. She was not to be trifled with, and Nori was no coin to be bartered. They would rue the day they caged the daughter of Fundin!

"Why are you here?" Nori repeated, a pained hiss. "Why did you have to come? Do you know what they'll do now?"

"Let them try," Dwalin bared her bloodied teeth. "I can't give them what they want. I fought the orcs at the gates of Moria and deep in the earth. What can _they_ do to me?"

Nori glared back at her. "Why would they bother trying to hurt _you_? You've already proven you care what they do to me." His hands were shaking where they clung to the bars, before he shoved away with a sharp curse and took to pacing.

"No... No!' Dwalin snarled, throwing herself against the bars again. They'd have hurt Nori if she didn't show up, and they'd hurt him _because_ she'd shown up. It was not right. It was not fair. They were Dwarves, they should be better than that, and Dwalin cursed them. She cursed them with every curse she knew. They were honorless traitorous cowards.

"Stop," Nori begged when Dwalin hit the bars again, ignoring the ache in her shoulders. "There's nothing we can do," Nori's voice was resigned. He looked afraid, but his pale face was set with determination when Dwalin looked over at him. _"Wait, save strength_ ," his hands signed. " _Listen. Plan_."

Dwalin sighed, slumping down against the bars. She looked both directions carefully, making sure there were no guards in sight. " _How do we get out? There is a way?_ " she asked in iglishmek.

" _Thief_ ," Nori answered, hesitantly. "... _maybe. If luck_."

A chance, if luck was with them. Dwalin gritted her teeth, but nodded. Nori's iglishmek might never be fluent, but they could understand each other well enough. They wouldn't have been able to plan this way when they first met.

They both sat in silence, waiting, trying to listen to see if their captors said anything interesting. Anything that would give them hope.

Dwalin gave the door another kick, eventually. "I wish I _did_ have it. Nothing could hold us." The old bitterness burned down the back of Dwalin's throat. With the protector she could have smashed their way out in an instant, but she was not granted what she needed to protect those she loved.

"I'm sorry," Nori whispered, misery in the lines of his face. " _Can't. Too many._ " Nori's hands signed, even as his eyes closed, his face turned away from her. " _Too many for me. Can't fight. Not strong enough. Not good enough_."

"No, Nori no..." Dwalin kicked the door to make him look at her again. " _Not your fault,_ " She signed firmly. That hadn't been at all what she meant. Of course Nori couldn't smash his way out of here. He should not expect that of himself. _"You are not weak because your strength is a different kind. We are stronger together. We will find a way_."

The day dragged on, uninterrupted. While Dwalin chaffed at the inactivity, she was glad their captors had not yet hurt Nori in an attempt to make her give them what she did not have. She did not know why they delayed. Maybe they thought to weaken her with waiting.

Dwalin thought she might be able to throttle the captor who brought them water, start a fight through the bars and force them to open the door for her, but the Dwarf was too canny. Sie put the bowl of water on the floor and shoved it to within Dwalin's reach without getting in range hirself. Sie lightly tapped a knife blade against each bar of Nori's cell as sie walked past, smile far too sharp.

"You won't be pretty much longer," the Dwarf promised Nori – and was gone.

"They're just playing mind games with us," Nori tried to soothe Dwalin when she slammed against the cell bars again. Trying to calm _her_ even though his own face had gone dead pale. The look of pure hatred he'd thrown at the retreating Dwarf's back spoke well for his spirit, though. He was afraid, but he wasn't giving up yet.

" _How long do we wait_?" Dwalin demanded. He still hadn't said what they were waiting for, or how they would be getting out.

" _Unsure_ ," Nori signed back. Dwalin grumbled and kicked at the door. She hated waiting.

Nori heard whatever they were waiting for before Dwalin did. He perked up, hand to an ear to mime listening to Dwalin.

"...back by sunrise," was all Dwalin picked up, but Nori threw her a nervous smile.

" _Now_ ," Nori signed. " _Half-numbers. Fight_." Dwalin stood, flexing her hands, ready.

" _How do we get out_?" Dwalin asked.

" _Thief_ ," Nori answered, and grabbed the protector out of nothing. He casually flipped the worn old blades around his hands, and was holding something else. Something small and thin. Dwalin squinted across at him, and Nori reached through the bars to begin working on his cell's lock.

Lockpicks. He had turned _Ushmaru Khazâd_ , the most famed weapon of the Dwarves, into a set of jeweled lockpicks. Nori was good at what he did. The lock clicked open, and the cell swung open silently. He slipped out and to Dwalin's, working on hers just as quickly.

"I heard them planning earlier," Nori breathed. "They've gone for reinforcements, there's only six of them now. It's our best chance."

Dwalin reached through the bars and stroked the side of his face. Her clever Nori, hearing what he needed to hear, and plotting their most likely escape. Dwalin's lock clicked open, and Dwalin stepped out into the corridor. There were six Dwarves beyond the door, but past them freedom.

"Now what?" Dwalin whispered, as Nori tossed the amethyst-crusted lockpicks away.

"The perfect weapon is a weapon for Dwalin," Nori murmured to himself, holding her right hand tight. He closed his bright hazel eyes, concentrating hard. He was trying to make the protector into something she could wield? Was that even possible? If anyone could do that, it would be Nori. If ever there was a time Dwalin needed nothing but to _protect_ , it was now. She just needed to get Nori out of here. "The perfect weapon is a weapon for Dwalin, the perfect weapon is a weapon for Dwalin, theperfectweaponisaweaponforDwalin." Nori let go of Dwalin's hand and smacked his own against it hard, grabbing with the exact motion he used to pull the protector out of nothing.

There was weight in Dwalin's hands. Her fingers curled around the handle on instinct, and Dwalin was holding a war hammer. The most perfect war hammer that had ever been. It was set with Nori's amethysts, but it was weighted to Dwalin's strength – long handle to make the most of her lanky build. It was warm in her hands, a welcome, and Dwalin bit back her moan. It was _so perfect_.

"It _worked_?" Nori breathed in disbelief, dropping his hands. "There's no telling how long it will last, or how far away from me it can get – but can you?"

"Aye," Dwalin hefted the hammer – all she'd been wishing for and more. With this she could more than get them out. "I'll stay close."

Nori pulled a concealed knife from his boot, nodding once sharply. "I've got your back."

Dwalin kissed him, a brief hot press of lips, and faced the wooden door. It was time for battle, and she had never been more ready. She hit it at a dead sprint, and it exploded into splinters below the might of _Ushmaru Khazâd_ in her hands. The war hammer moved as an extension of her own body. Dwalin burst into the main cavern with a war cry full on her lips. Their captors were unprepared for her, screaming as they scrabbled for weapons to face her, and Dwalin took them down. If they were anything but Dwarves, they would have died from the strength of her hammer blows. They took injury, they flew through the air and out of her way, those who went down stayed down, but they would recover. Dwalin kept a part of her attention on Nori, being sure he was safe. He stayed near, handy with his knife against anyone who got too close, until he spotted the basket that had held his belongings and now seemed to hold Dwalin's as well. Dwalin was the center of the fight, drawing all attackers, and Nori sprinted for the basket.

Dwalin was too far away to do anything when the Dwarf with the knife, the one who made threats, jumped out of the shadows onto Nori.

Dwalin screamed negation, slamming Dwarves out of her way as she tried to fight toward him. Nori had given up the protector for her, was armed only with his little boot knife, but even so he held his own. He dodged and slashed back at the Dwarf as much as sie slashed at him. Nori only barely spun out of the way of a stab, his elbow flew into the Dwarf's face as he twisted the knife out of hir hand. There was no remorse or hesitation on Nori's face as he plunged the Dwarf's own blade into hir. He was no warrior, but he was a fighter after all. The protector had chosen a Dwarf who could fend for himself, even without holding the weapon.

Nori left the gasping Dwarf behind, grabbed the basket of their things, and headed for the entrance.

"Run!" he urged, and Dwalin was running. Their captors had gathered enough intelligence together to hang back, she and Nori had a straight shot to freedom.

"Hit that," Nori ordered, gesturing desperately to a support beam, and Dwalin hit it on her way past. It splintered beautifully beneath the hammer, and there was a warning groan of stone before rocks began to fall. Dwalin and Nori sprinted out of the cave with a rockslide on their heels.

"What?" Dwalin gasped, looking back. She'd not intended to kill them. They were Dwarves, even if they were a disgrace to the name.

"Their failsafe," Nori coughed at the dust that puffed out as another set of rocks fell. "To seal themselves in in an emergency. It won't hold them long." His bright eyes darted around, knuckles clenched to white around the little knife in his hand. He quickly shrugged the carrying strap of the basket over his shoulder. "We need to hide," he decided, and took off into the trees.

Dwalin could only follow.

 

They were far from where they'd been taken, and closer to Ered Luin but far from any main tracks, when Nori finally let them stop. He'd chosen their hiding spot with paranoid care – just as he'd been extremely careful that they be all but impossible to track.

The protector was still satisfyingly heavy in Dwalin's hands. She'd slung the war hammer across her bruised shoulders, and felt as though she could carry it forever and never tire.

Dwalin sat down and began sorting what Nori had rescued in the basket. Grasper and Keeper returned to their place on her back, her few knives back in their places. Nori's knives she sorted out beside her, ready for him to hide around himself again.

Nori did not seem to be relaxing now that they were free. He did not sit long, getting back up to pace back and forth every few moments. He'd put his knife back in his boot, but he jumped at every small sound.

"Here," Dwalin offered Nori the little packet of his hair clasps. She'd hoped, a little, that he'd let her brush and braid his hair, to calm him and offer that comfort. Instead he took the clasps and paced as he worked them back into his hair.

Dwalin tipped the handle of _Ushmaru Khazâd_ toward him when he was done, and Nori plucked his old worn knives out of the air. Dwalin's hand mourned the perfect war hammer that was no longer beneath it, but she shook it off and gestured Nori to the rest of his knives.

Even as fully armed as he liked to be, Nori did not calm.

"They thought you were going to Erebor," Nori said. "That's why they did it now."

"Aye," Dwalin admitted. Nori threw her a pained look. "I would have told you!" she defended. "I wasn't in Ered Luin, and then you weren't." She'd intended on asking him to join Thorin's Company with her. She enjoyed traveling with Nori at her side, and as dangerous as the quest was likely to be the rewards were more than enough to balance it. And Dwalin would follow her King anywhere, legendary weapons or no. Her axes had always served her well enough.

Nori stood and began pacing again, looking out into the trees. Away from her.

"They took me because they thought you had it. Now they'll _know_ you have it." Nori's hands clenched empty at his sides. "What am I supposed to do?"

"We'll figure something out," Dwalin promised.

"No, this isn't..." Nori rubbed his face with his hands, shoulders hunching in. "Those were Alrek's people, and everyone knows he's practically sleeping with the old Blue Mountains nobles. I can't hide behind the bed while you run them off this time!" He threw a brief glare at Dwalin and turned back to the trees. "...I'm going home."

"Nori!" Dwalin reached out for him, but Nori was already gone. Slipped through her fingers like trying to catch hold of a shadow.


	8. A Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the end, and the beginning

Getting into Ered Luin unnoticed was easy enough for Nori. He knew enough of the cracks in the stone to squirm through where no one would be watching. Getting _through_ Ered Luin unseen was more difficult, but Nori managed to get home without _noticing_ himself be noticed.

Dori was sitting at her workbench in her tinker shop, humming as she worked on something. As though it were just a normal day. Her smile in greeting when she noticed Nori faded quickly, her eyes searching his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked, putting her work down.

"Where's Ori?" Nori asked. No time for hellos and greetings, the stories of where he'd been. He just had to be sure his family was ok.

"E's in the house, Nori, what is it?" Dori demanded.

"Ori!" Nori called, heading into the building. "Ori!" He could hear the panic in his own voice, but he couldn't help it.

"Nori?" Ori's confused voice came out of er room, followed by Ori, equally confused.

"Thank the stone you're alright." Nori practically fell on his younger sibling, squeezing em tight. "You're alright," he repeated, clinging just at tight to Dori when she joined the hug. He had his siblings. They were alright. Alrek's people hadn't gotten to them.

Not _yet_.

"Ori, put the kettle on," Dori suggested gently, prying Nori off em. Nori cuddled into Dori's side, like when he was a Dwarfling and squeezed between Dori and their Amad was the safest place in the world. He let himself be led to the kitchen and sat down in a chair while Ori made tea.

"Now," Dori said, taking both Nori's hands in her own strong ones. "Tell me _exactly_ what has you so scared."

"I was captured. Held in a cave outside Ered Luin," Nori explained.

"Oh Nori," Dori breathed. "What have you done?"

"I didn't do _anything_!" Nori protested. He was always so careful, why would Dori assume it was his fault? "They held me to get to Dwalin because they think she holds the protector!"

"...she doesn't?" Ori asked.

Nori laughed, a dry hacking cough as he let his body sag forward, let his forehead rest on Dori's solid shoulder. "No," he said. "Dwalin does not carry _Ushmaru Khazâd_." He'd been so careful to hide it, to keep his family safe, and it was all for nothing because he loved Dwalin and everyone thought she carried it.

"And Dwalin?" Dori asked.

"She let them catch her," Nori continued his story. "They were going to... to cut off my beard to make her cooperate." He powered on through his siblings' horrified exclamations. "But I picked the locks and she fought our way free. I left her on the outskirts of Ered Luin; they won't dare touch _her_."

"Well," Dori said sharply. "We're going to the magistrates _right now_ to report..."

"It was Alrek's people," Nori cut her off, shaking his head where it still rested on her shoulder. "Won't do any good."

Dori huffed her disgust, but she knew as well as Nori did that they'd get nowhere with the law. "Maybe Dwalin will do better," Dori soothed herself. "With her connection to the royal family – Lady Dís cannot move _directly_ , but she's very influential..."

"Dwalin's going to Erebor," Nori said. He finally took his cup of tea from Ori – nice and sweet how he liked it. He couldn't meet either of his siblings' eyes. Dwalin wouldn't be pushing for justice or any movement against Alrek or the nobles who supported him. Dwalin was leaving him for danger and almost certain death. Nori might carry the protector, he could pick a lock and give her a heavy weapon when she needed one, but he couldn't protect her against that.

"Oh, I had heard about that." Dori said.

"I think I might go too," Ori added. E shrank back into er scarves when both Nori and Dori turned to stare at em. "Mr. Balin is going!" Ori defended. "And Fili and Kíli too! It's not like I would be wandering off on my own."

"We will discuss this later," Dori informed Ori in her most final tones. "We might not be able to take legal action, but we are not entirely powerless. I can put Alrek's behavior in enough ears, including Lady Dís', that he will be thoroughly shamed. There will be fewer willing to stand for him if everyone knows he would stoop to kidnapping and threatening an uninvolved Dwarf."

"Be careful," Nori begged. "If they would hurt me, they might try to hurt you too."

"Good point," Dori nodded. "None of us can go anywhere alone, for the moment." Nori rested his head in his hands while Dori made plans so that none of them were ever unaccompanied – to make sure they either went together or made sure friends met them here. They were all in danger because of Nori. Alrek's people would be angry, and they might try to take it out on his family to get to him. Nori shuddered at the memory of hands tearing the clasps from his hair. They _could_ have taken his beard or his ears, the way they'd threatened to. They could have done anything, and there was nothing he could have done about it.

Dori and Ori crowded in close to Nori, arms around him to offer him comfort. Some protector he was, hiding between his siblings.

Ori pushed the conversation back around to Erebor, and er intention to join the quest. The harder Dori argued against it, the more adamant Ori became that e _was_ going. When Ori was at the point of declaring that e was a grown Dwarf and Dori could not _forbid_ em from going, Nori broke in.

"Maybe I should go too." He didn't speak loudly, but they both dropped into silence at his words. "I can look after Ori that way, and if both Dwalin and I are gone, Alrek won't have any reason to send his people after you." He could look out for Ori and Dwalin both, as much as he could. He might not be much of a protector, he was no great warrior, but he could never be completely unarmed and he always had the right tool at hand.

"The two of you are not leaving me behind!" Dori snapped. She gasped at her own outburst, hand over her mouth. "We will discuss this after supper," she continued quickly, standing. "Nori, chop some onions or something."

Nori stood to help, and it felt like standing at the edge of a cliff – ready to take a step with no idea what was beyond.

 

When they'd argued all their arguments out, they went together to swear to Thorin's quest. Bifur who'd sometimes helped with Khuzdul lessons had signed on, with his cousins – Bofur was always good company for a laugh and a drink. Oin and Gloin were providing funding. Just them, and Thorin's family, and Balin and Dwalin. It was not a large company.

Nori felt Dwalin's eyes on him when he came to audience with Thorin, could feel her relief and the small smile that threatened to crack her rough exterior. They had not spoken directly since their capture, though Nori had made sure she was alright – and he'd heard enough to know that she'd asked after his well being as well.

Dori was grim but sure as she swore to the quest on the strength of her hands, may they fail her if she proved false. Ori swore on er quills and the books of er writing, on er craft, beaming to answered smiles from Fili and Kíli.

Everyone's eyes were on Nori when it was his turn, when he hesitated. There was no choice to be made here, not after his family had sworn their oaths before him. He would do the only thing he could; for his family, and for himself. Follow the only path that was open to him.

"For my family," Nori said. His eyes traveled up past Thorin, to Dwalin standing beside him with warmth and pride in her deep brown eyes. For her too, wasn't she family enough? Nori reached for the worn old knives on the back of his belt, drew them. He'd hidden. For so long he'd hidden, when it was the right thing to do, but it was not anymore. Not when it put Dwalin and his family in danger. If secrecy no longer served him, it was time to try another tool. Nori spun the knives around his hands, how he'd practiced so many times on his own, so when they rolled back into his grip he was holding the perfect blades. He saw Dwalin's eyes widening in shock before anyone else’s – she was the only one who knew what he was doing, what he carried.

Nori lay the most perfect jeweled knives that had ever been crafted before Thorin, speaking quickly before he could second guess himself. "I swear, on the blades of _Ushmaru Khazâd_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading along! It's been a great joy and privilege to work with Vjekoslav to bring this fic to you, and I hope you have enjoyed it at least half as much as I did!  
> <3,  
> TS

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Protector [Podfic]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5319035) by [the_dragongirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_dragongirl/pseuds/the_dragongirl)




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